


Bumps in the Road

by SakuraBlossomStorm



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-18
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-08-23 06:51:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 45,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8318068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SakuraBlossomStorm/pseuds/SakuraBlossomStorm
Summary: AU. Leslie discovers she's pregnant with Ben's baby just as her campaign for City Council starts. Set during season four.





	1. I'm Leslie Knope and I'm Pregnant.

**Author's Note:**

> I like to do this thing where I think of a new idea for a fic and have to write it right away and neglect all the other stories that I have that are unfinished. Go me!
> 
> Anyway, I thought of this today at work and thought it might make for an interesting spin on season four, I hope you all enjoy!

Leslie felt strange all day.

It wasn’t just the constant dull ache in her heart that she felt ever since she and Ben broke up for the sake of her campaign but this was different, a weird nauseous feeling deep in the lower pits of her stomach.

She cleared her throat and took a long sip of water, she put it down to the fact that she hadn’t eaten anything all day and lunch was soon coming up, she’d devour a stack of JJ’s waffles and then she’d feel fine.

She hoped.

William was saying something about her campaign, but she couldn’t concentrate, because her stomach was stirring wildly, she had been in this meeting for well over an hour now, surely to god it must be ending soon. Leslie was never one to beg for a meeting to finish but she needed to get out soon or she was sure she’d hurl all over the table and her campaign team.

Finally, Elizabeth called it a day and told them they’d meet again tomorrow, Leslie grabbed her things and bolted out of the room, shouting something about another meeting she was late for over her shoulder.

Her knees hit the tiled floor with a loud thud as her stomach tightened and vomit spewed from her mouth into the toilet bowl. Leslie gripped the sides and her chest strained as she heaved. Everything she was sure she had ever eaten in her entire life poured out in front of her, it was gross, and she sure as hell didn’t feel much better after.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You don’t have a fever”, Ann told her as she took the thermometer from her mouth, “And you don’t look fluey, just really pale”.

Leslie was slumped over her desk whimpering to herself, she had called Ann after her vomiting subsided and Ann dutifully came to check up on her best friend, bringing her nurse’s bag just in case.

“Maybe you’re just stressed?” Ann suggested, “I mean you’ve had a lot going on, the campaign, Ben, you probably just need some rest and this is your body telling you to take a breather”.

Leslie groaned and raised her head so she could look at Ann, “I’ve never felt this bad before, am I dying?”

Ann smirked, “You’re not dying, you just need some sleep and water, get your stuff, I’m taking you home”.

She drove Leslie back to her home and escorted her inside, Ann set her on her couch with a glass of water and pills to take, “Call me if you need anything” She told Leslie and left to go back to work.

Leslie curled up on the couch, her stomach still spinning like crazy and tried to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day wasn’t much better, Leslie puked two more times after getting out of bed and then ran out of medication, grumbling to herself she pulled on some sweats and drove to the nearest pharmacy.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me” Leslie moaned as she slumped dramatically over the counter to the pharmacist, “I just keep barfing and everything aches”.

“It doesn’t look like a cold” The pharmacist said kindly, trying to feel Leslie’s forehead, “And you don’t have a fever”.

“What could it be?” Leslie whined, “I’ve got so much work to do and I really can’t afford to be-.”

She trailed off when she saw the stand next to the counter.

Pregnancy tests.

Leslie’s brain went into immediate overdrive, trying to calculate everything in a short space of time, when was her last period? When was the last time she had sex? Could she really possibly be pregnant?

There was only one way to find out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three minutes was way too long in this situation, Leslie’s leg bounced up and down anxiously as her phone timed the minutes, the pregnancy test lay face down on the side of the sink. She was perched on the side of the bathtub chewing at her thumb.

Oh god, what if it was positive? She had just started running for City Council, there’d be a huge scandal about an unmarried, pregnant woman running for office for sure, even bigger than the one that would have erupted if she and Ben were still together.

Ben, what would she tell Ben? It was obviously his; she hadn’t been with anyone else after they broke up. What would he say? Would he be angry? Sad? Spontaneously combust on the spot?

The alarm sounding on her phone made Leslie’s jump out of her thoughts, she stood up straight and took shaky steps to retrieve the test, with trembling hands she slowly lifted up.

She told herself on the count of three to turn it over and look, to accept whatever fate had in store for her on the other side.

She thought about her campaign in ruins before it had even begun.

_One._

She thought about the disapproving looks from her colleagues at City Hall.

_Two._

She thought about Ben telling her to do it alone and never to talk to him again.

_Three._

Leslie flipped it over and there it was, the small pink plus sign.

She was pregnant.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ann jumped into her car and drove straight to Leslie’s after she left an inaudible voicemail of her sobbing and hiccupping down the phone. Something dreadful had happened and she needed to be there.

Ann let herself in and searched the living room, there was no sign of her, she checked the kitchen, the dining room, nothing.

“Leslie?” She called and an answering sob came from upstairs.

Ann bolted towards the staircase and sprinted up the steps, taking two at a time. She soon found her curled up in a ball on her bathroom floor sobbing hysterically.

“Leslie, Leslie!” Ann quickly ran to her side and rubbed her back, “Hey, it’s ok, what’s happened?”

Leslie didn’t say anything; she just uncurled her hands, revealing the positive pregnancy test.

Ann clapped a hand around her mouth in shock, “Oh my god, Leslie” She whispered, she should have seen the signs, Leslie being sick, no fever, feeling lethargic. She should have known. And she shouldn’t have left her alone last night.

“It’s ok,” She said, pulling her best friend into a hug and rocking her side to side, “It’s going to be ok, I promise”.

Leslie still refused to speak, she just sobbed loudly into Ann’s shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a good two hours or sitting on her bathroom floor, Ann managed to coax Leslie downstairs and to take slow and steady breaths to calm down. Leslie hugged her knees to her chest, tears still streaming out of her eyes.

She was pregnant.

A baby was growing inside of her.

And she was fucking terrified.

“Can we talk about this?” Ann asked kindly, handing Leslie a mug of hot tea.

Leslie looked up at Ann and gave a slow nod, “Yeah…ok”.

“How?” Ann asked, “I thought you guys were being careful”.

“So did I, apparently not careful enough” Leslie mumbled as she took a sip of her tea, it was one of those horrible herbal things Ann liked to drink, it tasted horrible but the warmness seemed to ease her ever so slightly.

“What are you going to do?” Ann carried on, “Keep it?”

Leslie’s head jerked to face Ann, “Oh my god yes, I’m not getting rid of it, no way, I just…it’s a shock”.

“Of course it is” Ann replied, placing her hand on top of Leslie’s, “What about Ben?”

Leslie grimaced at his name, she needed to tell Ben that she was having his baby, how the hell was he going to react? They broke up a month ago so she could run for City Council and now this huge bump had forced them back together to try and get to the bottom of this mess.

“I don’t know, I guess I have to tell him” Leslie sighed, setting the mug on her coffee table so she could bury her face in her hands.

“Of course, you won’t be able to hide it forever, you see him every day” Ann reminded her.

“Oh god” Leslie groaned, hunching over and wrapping her arms protectively around her middle, “How the hell did this happen? And I had no idea. Ann, I drank a stupid amount of throat burning liquor the other week, that could have really hurt the baby”.

She paused, the baby, the tiny little speck inside of her. She could have done some serious damage.

“I’m sure you didn’t” Ann told her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, “People drink all the time without realising they are pregnant, that’s it from now on though, no more margaritas or mimosas on Galentine’s Day”.

Leslie slowly nodded, “No more coffee” She groaned.

“There’s always decaf” Ann reminder her with a gentle smile, Leslie chuckled, it was the first time Ann had seen her smile all day, Leslie leant over and placed her head in Ann’s lap and she stroked the top of her head.

“It’s going to be ok, I promise” Ann said soothingly, the strokes of her hand through Leslie’s hair making her eyes droop, “I’m going to help you out and be with you every step of the way”.

More tears trickled from Leslie’s eyes, “Thank you,” she whispered and her eyes closed.

Today she wanted to be comforted by her best friend; tomorrow she’d have to tell her ex that she was having his baby.

She really hoped Zorp would come to destroy the Earth before tomorrow arrived. She wasn’t a Reasonabilist, but she was really praying for Zorp to show his scaly face and blow them all into smithereens.

Because she really, _really_ didn’t want to tell Ben.


	2. Ben the Baby Daddy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cannot thank you all enough for all the comments and kudos for this chapter, I can safely say that this has to be one of the most successful stories that I have started.
> 
> So I couldn't leave you all with just one chapter! Plus I am so excited about this story so I'm eager to write! I hope you all enjoy!

Leslie didn’t go to work for the rest of the week, it was Wednesday when she found out she was pregnant so she took the remaining two days off to process everything. She spent the weekend trying to plan how she was going to tell Ben.

In every situation and possible scenario she thought of, Ben ended up leaving her to raise the baby alone. Was he going to do that when she told him? She had no idea, they had only really been dating for a few months before they broke up, she thought she knew him but that all could have been a ploy to get her to like him.

After all, she couldn’t stand him when they first met.

Monday morning soon crept around and Leslie decided she couldn’t beat around the bush anymore. She had been to the doctors to confirm that was pregnant and she was, there was no point of all this excitement for the test to be a fake positive.

But nope, she was pregnant, around 6 weeks she estimated.

Leslie sat down at her desk at 8:30; her office seemed so empty after Tom had left to go run Entertainment 720. She opened her calendar to check her meetings; sure enough at 10:30 she had a meeting with the City Manager and Assistant City Manager. 

Chris and Ben would be coming to discuss the most recent budget plans for the Parks Department.

And Leslie had to tell him afterwards.

Her stomach fluttered with nerves, she couldn’t concentrate on her work let alone her campaign, William and Elizabeth had been emailing her all weekend to discuss her campaign with her, Leslie had to play it off as if she most definitely was not going to squeeze a human being out in 8 months time. They couldn’t know, they just started this campaign and they could quite easily quit and find someone else.

And she really wanted this; she wanted this more than anything in her entire life. 

Pregnant or not she was going to run dammit!

There was a tap at the door that made Leslie jump out of her skin; Donna was standing in the doorway, “Hey, Knope. You want a coffee?” She asked.

“Yes please” Leslie answered, then remembered, “Uh no…actually maybe not”.

Donna raised an eyebrow; “You have a coffee every morning, what’s up?”

“Um…I had a lot of coffee this morning already… yeah I…stopped off at Starbucks and got a big coffee, lots of work to do” Leslie babbled nervously.

Donna gave Leslie a funny look and for a second Leslie thought Donna might know, but then she turned and walked out of the office, “Alright, your loss” Donna replied and went back to her desk.

Leslie sighed and slumped over her desk, it was going to be a long day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leslie watched as Chris walked into the Parks Department, chipper as ever and greeting the team with his trademark positivity, Leslie grabbed her notebook and pen ready for the meeting and then her heart stopped.

Ben walked in just behind Chris; his padfolio tucked under his arm and his hair that adorable messiness that made her weak at the knees.

_‘It’s go time’_ she thought to herself, she remembered all the text Ann had sent her this morning, giving her a pep talk and telling her to just come out and say it.

She stepped out of her office, her hands shaking and heart thumping.

“Leslie Knope!” Chris greeted her as Leslie walked into the meeting room, “Good morning”.

“Morning, Chris” Leslie said, forcing a smile. She scanned the room, crap; there was only one seat left at that was next to Ben. Her stomach dropped and she slowly pulled it out.

“Good morning” She muttered to Ben, trying not to look at him.

“Morning, Leslie” Ben replied, giving her a curt nod. He clearly still wasn’t over the break up; Leslie noticed all the sad glances he gave her from across the room, “How are you?”

“I’m grood” She frowned, “I’m good…I meant to say good but great started to come out instead”.

Ben smirked and her heart pounded, “You sure you’re ok?”

Leslie frantically nodded and he turned away.

_‘Well buddy, you’ve knocked me up! Looks like we’re going to be forced together for a little longer’._

“It is excellent that you are all here this fine morning,” Chris announced, “I could _literally_ not be happier”.

As Chris started the meeting, talking about future projects and park maintenance Leslie head started to spin, she needed to tell Ben now or she was scared that she might never do it.

Maybe she could slip him a note? No that wouldn’t work, or she could subtly whisper it to him, but what would she say? _‘Hey remember six weeks ago we had really good sex before we broke up? Yeah now I’m pregnant, surprise!’_

She anxiously tapped her pen on the corner of her notebook, she stopped concentrating on the meeting ages ago, so did Ben.

He was watching Leslie, her jerky movements, the panicked pitch in her voice, something was up.

After an hour or so Chris finally ended the meeting with one of his positive speeches, Leslie started to feel sick, her stomach was in knots and her hands were shaking even more.

“And that is why I am so proud of each and every one of you, and your amazing work here today” Chris rounded off, applauding himself or everyone in the room, Leslie couldn’t tell.

Chris adjourned the meeting and everyone gathered their things to leave, it was make or break, Leslie reached out and tapped Ben’s shoulder and he turned around.

“Can I talk to you for a second?” she asked, her eyes wide and frantic.

“Uh, sure” Ben said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Um…my office?” Leslie asked, gesturing to her safe space.

Ben nodded and the two walked across the department, Leslie closed the door behind him and gestured Tom’s old seat to him.

“So…I have something to tell you” she started, her heart beating scarily fast.

“Shoot”.

“I…uh…am thinking about getting a dog,” Leslie said.

_‘Why the hell did you just say that?’_

“Oh” Ben said, looking a little confused, did she really just call him in here to ask his opinion about dogs?

“Yeah…a dog and…you seem like a dog person so…I thought I would tell you” Leslie stammered.

“Well…Yeah I like dogs but you work like all the time so I don’t think it’s a good idea, you wouldn’t be able to take care of it” Ben said earnestly.

Leslie’s eyes widened, oh god, she worked all the time, she wouldn’t be able to take care of a dog, or a baby for that matter!

Oh god, oh crap on a cookie.

The tears started before she could stop them.

Ben looked alarmed, “Good lord, I didn’t know this was such a big deal…um…ok I think it’s a good idea?” He said, a little unsure of whether to comfort her or not.

“There’s no dog” Leslie sniffed, looking up at him; she clenched her hands on her knees and took a deep breath.

“I’m pregnant, Ben”.

He froze.

“And it’s yours…I haven’t been with anyone else after…we…y’know”.

Ben blinked; Leslie could practically see the cogs turning in his brain as he possessed all of the information.

“You…you’re pregnant?”

“Yeah”.

“You’re having a baby?”

“Yep”.

“And it’s mine?”

“A hundred percent”.

Ben ran a shaky hand through his hair, “Fuck…Leslie what the hell? We…you said you were on the pill? I wore condoms? How did this happen?”

“I don’t know” Leslie said in honesty, “I never missed a pill but…they aren’t 100% effective”.

Ben stood up and started pacing the room frantically, “What…but how? How? Oh my god, Leslie. You want to run for City Council, we broke up, you…you can’t be, this is a dream right?”

He was freaking out, she could see the beads of sweat forming on his forehead, she looked out of the glass panel that led to the department and saw Donna and April watching Ben pace.

“Look, Ben” Leslie said jumping up placing her hands on his shoulders, “Ben, relax…breath, you need to stop, no one can know, if we thought a scandal was going to be big with us together what do you think this is going to do when everyone finds out”.

Ben was trembling under Leslie’s hands, “Jesus… what are you going to do? What are _we_ going to do?”

Leslie swallowed, she practiced this last night, she thought it was going to be a very reasonable plan for Ben to accept.

“I’m giving you a week” Leslie told him, “A week to think about this and decide what you want to do, I’m going to have this baby, that’s non negotiable, but you can decide if you want to have a part in its life or not, I know it’s a lot to take in so…think about it, we can raise this baby together or you can just be the anonymous sperm donor if you don’t want a part of it’s life. Just…take your time…well not too long, I kind of need to have a plan by the end of the week”.

Her eyes met his; Ben could see the fear in her eyes, but a fire behind that, the fire that told him that she was going to do this with or without him.

“Go” Leslie told him, “think about it, you don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to until you decide…just…please promise me you will really think about it, I mean it takes two to tango…right”.

Ben had paled; he couldn’t deal with Leslie’s jokes right now. He didn’t say anything, he walked towards the door and opened it, before leaving he turned around and gave Leslie one last look.

“Leslie…I-.”

“Please, don’t say anything” Leslie told him, “Just…you have a week, ok?”

Ben swallowed, but gave a small nod, “Ok” and so he left.

Leslie rubbed her hands over her face to compose herself, she wiped the last few tears from her eyes and took slow and steady breaths, she needed to pretend and act like everything was fine.

She walked out of her office to the questioning eyes of April and Donna.

“I told him I heard Game of Thrones was ending” She told them with a jokey smile, “He freaked out but it turns out it was just a stupid rumour! Nothing to worry about”.

She then walked out of the Parks Department, because after all that she _really_ needed to vomit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben sat at his desk with his head in his hands, Leslie Knope, his ex girlfriend, was pregnant.

And he was the father.

_Good Lord…_

He liked to think he was a decent guy, but right now the first thing on his mind was to get the heck out of Pawnee, run away to the mountains of Alaska or something.

He couldn’t be a dad, he just couldn’t. He didn’t even have his own house!

Ben clenched his hands and swallowed hard, he was pretty sure he was on the verge of a panic attack. 

They broke up because of her campaign; he spent the past six weeks in turmoil because all he wanted to do was to hold her and kiss her. 

And now there would be another human in this world, part Leslie…and part him.

He couldn’t wait a week to tell her his decision, he needed to act now. And the first part of that plan was to get out of here now.

Ben opened his emails and dropped Chris an email telling him that there was a family emergency and he needed to take the rest of the week off. 

Then he opened up Google, and looked up the first flights out of Pawnee to Chicago.


	3. In or Out

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've received so many requests to get this chapter up and also a lot of positive feedback so I can't thank you enough!
> 
> Also a huge shout out goes to supervanillabear31 for checking this over for me to make sure it's the best it can be, you are a wonderful adorable koala and I thank you! 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!

Leslie didn’t see Ben for the rest of the day, and she was quite relieved; she was so worried that if she did see him she would pounce on him and ask if he had made his decision yet. 

She now regretted giving him a week to mull it over.

“How did it go?” Ann asked, sitting down next to her in the courtyard.

Leslie sighed heavily. “Well he freaked out, just like we said he would. He started babbling and kept opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water.”

“And is he in or out?” Ann pushed on.

Leslie looked down at her hands that were tugging at the hem of her skirt. “I gave him a week to think about it, just…take some time and think about what he really wants.”

Ann frowned. “Really? He didn’t say there and then? I mean, this is kind of his fault.”

“It’s no one’s fault,” Leslie reminded her, “We don’t know, but it’s happened, if he wants to be a part of the baby’s life then great. If he doesn’t…well, I nominate you to be the father.”

“How about the second mother; that sounds better.”

Leslie nodded. “Yeah I like that”.

Ann reached over and placed her hand on top of Leslie’s. “You know it will all be ok, right? Ben will come around; I’m sure he will. He’s a good guy.”

Leslie pursed her lips. “I really hope so”.

“Even though right now he’s not exactly my favourite person.”

Leslie giggled. “I know.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday came around, and Leslie still hadn’t seen Ben. God he was really avoiding her. It was either that or he was taking this whole thinking thing really seriously.

Which was good, but she just really wanted to see his face, see some kind of indication as to what he was thinking.

She saw Chris stepping out of the City Manager’s office looking concerned. Chris was always such a positive guy, so what got him all riled up? Leslie scowled and followed him.

“Chris, hi! Are you ok? You seem…worried.”

“Leslie Knope, I am _beyond_ stressed. I have twelve meetings this morning, two of them at the same time, I have had to skip my 10:30 run to the eighth floor and back,” Chris told her, his face frowny and tired.

“What about Ben? Isn’t he helping you?” she asked, a little hopeful to hear about what he had been doing.

“Ben has taken some time off. Something about a family emergency. He’s not even in the state; I’m assuming he’s in Minnesota,” Chris explained.

Leslie paused, her pulse quickening. “O-oh.”

Chris glanced at his watch. “I have to go. I have an appointment with sanitation. Maybe if I run to all my meetings it will count towards my missed ones.”

And, with that, he sprinted down the hall, leaving Leslie in a mess of her own thoughts.

Ben had left, taken the rest of the week off because of her. 

She scurried back to her office before anyone could see the tears rolling down her face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So are you going to tell me why you turned up at my doorstep in the middle of the night?” Henry asked as he sat opposite Ben.

Ben looked up at his older brother. Henry looked just like him face-wise but he was taller, broader. And his beard was full and bushy, unlike Ben’s tidy stubble.

After a stupidly expensive flight, Ben arrived in Chicago and went straight to his brother’s house. It was about midnight when he finally got there, Henry had opened the door bleary eyed and exhausted, took him to the guest room and told him that they’d talk about it in the morning. Ben was thankful, that way he could get his thoughts in order.

He always came to his brother when something went wrong. When he was younger, he hid in Henry’s bedroom when he accidentally got red paint on the walls; Henry tried to defend him when their mother tried to shout at Ben, telling her that Ben was just the new Van Gogh.

And now Ben needed his advice and help, but he felt like he had come at a wrong time. He needed to discuss his impending fatherhood a month after Henry and his wife had a baby girl.

The thought of a baby being in the same house as Ben made him very anxious. Baby Georgia was sleeping in a bassinette close by Henry. Ben’s leg jiggled up and down as his nerves took over.

“Hey, shaky, are you going to tell me?” Henry said, waving his hands in front of Ben’s eyes.

Ben rubbed his face with his hands. “I’ve really fucked up, Henry,” he mumbled, choking back a sob.

Henry stared at his brother as Ben broke down in front of him. “Whoa, hey, it’s ok,” he quickly said, leaning forward to try and comfort him. “What is it? You need money? I mean we don’t really have much to spare with the baby at the moment, but -”

“It’s not money,” Ben interrupted. “I…I got someone pregnant”.

Henry’s eyes widened. “Seriously?”

Ben nodded. “My ex…Leslie…”

“That girl who wanted to run for office or something?”

“Yeah,” Ben sighed. “She told me yesterday and…I freaked out. We broke up to avoid a scandal with her campaign and both of us losing our jobs… but this, this is worst case scenario.”

Henry couldn’t help but let the hints of a smile cross his lips. “Wow, I don’t know what to say, buddy; I wish I could tell you to run and never look back, but…having kids is amazing. I couldn’t imagine life without this one,” he said, looking lovingly in the direction of Georgia.

“That’s not helping,” Ben growled. “I don’t know what to do. I can’t be a dad. I don’t know the first thing about kids.”

“Neither did we,” Henry reminded him. “Cathy and I didn’t have a clue, but you just…know. It’s instinct.”

“Yeah, well what if my instinct is to throw it out of the window because it won’t stop crying,” Ben moaned.

“Ok, don’t do that, but, Ben, this is a blessing in disguise. Sure the timing is pretty crap, and yeah ok it could result in job loses or whatever. Ben… you’re going to have a baby,” Henry said, a positivity radiating from his voice as he placed a hand on his knee. “Sure, you guys broke up, but it’s not like you broke up because you don’t like each other anymore,” Henry continued. “You both just sacrificed it and this means you can get back together and do this for real…you do want to get back together with her right?”

Ben thought about it. “Well, yeah, I was heart broken when we ended things. I never felt like this about a girl before… I really like her.”

Henry smirked; every member of the Wyatt family seemed to have that same crooked smirk. “I think you just found the solution to your own problem.”

“It’s really not that simple,” Ben explained, leaning back into the couch. “It’s not about jobs or girlfriends because sure I know I have to step up and do the right thing but…I can’t be a dad… I don’t want to turn out like _our_ dad.”

Henry smiled sympathetically at Ben as he continued. “Dad was…terrifying. We walked on eggshells around him for eighteen years. I’ve had a career for years slashing budgets and ruining people’s careers. I’m not caring or sympathetic. I’m just like dad, and any kid I have is going to end up hating me.”

“You are nothing like Dad. You have emotions for starters,” Henry told him, “And you’ve changed, you are not the same eighteen year old moron. You’re thirty-six. And you aren’t getting any younger.”

“Hey, now-”

“What I mean is: Embrace this. It’s new, and scary. You were never good with change or new experiences. Remember when Mom took a different route to school one day, and you freaked out because you thought we were going to be late and cried the entire time?” Henry recalled with a chuckle.

Ben grinned. “Yeah, I do.”

“And what happened that day?”

“We got to school five minutes earlier than usual.”

“There you have it,” Henry said proudly, clapping his hands together. “This will be your journey to school. There’ll be tears, potential peeing of pants, and you’ll wonder if you’ll ever get to the end alive, but you will. Us Wyatts are survivors; we grew up with Mom and Dad’s divorce, which was basically World War Three. You can do it. And if you are worried about turning into Dad, then I will happily come to Indiana and kick you in the balls to knock some sense into you.”

Ben smiled at his older brother. “Thanks,” he said softly.

As if right on cue, a shriek emitted from the bassinette. Henry leaned over to inspect his daughter. “Oh she must be hungry.”

Henry reached over and carefully lifted the tiny baby from her bed and carried her to the kitchen, leaving Ben alone with his thoughts. His heart was still pounding wildly, and he was still very unsure of what to do. If they raised this child then there would be the possible chance of both of them losing their jobs. There would be no steady income and that thought made Ben nauseous. On the other hand, he could just be the sperm donor as she suggested and pay child support as he should, but watching her nurture and care for their baby alone and then potentially with another man in the future made Ben’s heart hurt. 

He was still very much lost.

At that moment, Henry walked back into the room with a still wailing Georgia, a frantic look on his face

“Can you do me a favour? I know it’s not ideal considering everything we just talked about, but can you hold her? There’s no milk in the kitchen, I need to wake up Cathy to pump.” Henry said, trying to soothe the sobbing baby.

“Um…oh…sure ok,” Ben said, shifting a little uncomfortably in his seat.

“I’m only going to give her to you if you promise not to throw her out of the window.”

“I promise,” Ben quickly said. “Come on, let me see my niece”.

Henry carefully handed Georgia over to him. “It’s ok. It’s ok,” he said to the crying infant. “You’re going to see Uncle Ben, and he’s a little nervous, so go easy on him?”

He then sprinted upstairs muttering to himself about how Cathy was going to kill him for waking her up from her nap. Apparently sleep was non-existent here.

Ben had seen Cathy once since getting to Chicago. She walked past him on the way to the bathroom and she looked like a zombie. All pale skinned with heavy purple bags under her eyes, which made Ben feel even worse about the situation. He liked sleeping, no, loved sleeping. And it was obvious that Henry and Cathy were struggling with serious sleep deprivation. 

Georgia slotted into Ben’s arms perfectly; she was warm and weighed basically nothing. She wailed loudly, her tiny toothless mouth wide open as that horrible cry pierced through the house. Her tiny hands balled up into fists as the cries shook through her body.

“Hey, it’s ok,” Ben said to the little girl. “It’s ok. Daddy’s just gone to get some milk. He’ll be back soon. Maybe you should just…relax?”

Ben frowned. What the hell do you even say to a 1 month old who can’t understand anything? He sighed while rocking Georgia in his arms; he really wasn’t cut out for this.

And then…silence.

Ben’s eyes snapped down onto the baby. Did she choke? Was she dead? Where the hell did that crying go? What the hell was he going to tell Henry?

But Georgia was staring back up at him, her bright blue eyes glistening with the remainder of her tears. The crying now replaced with a soft hiccupping noise.

“Uh…hi…hey there,” Ben said softly to his niece. “You’re not so scary, are you?”

Georgia responded by reaching a chubby hand out towards Ben’s nose. He tenderly reached forward and placed a loving kiss on her outstretched hand.

“What the hell did you do to my daughter?” Henry cried, barrelling down the stairs with a new bottle of milk in his hands. Henry paused when he saw Georgia nestled happily in Ben’s arms, gurgling to herself. “Holy crap, what did you do?”

“Nothing,” Ben said, letting a smile creep over his face. “She…she just stopped crying.”

Henry beamed and leaned over so he could see Georgia. “You love your uncle don’t you?” he said softly to the baby. “Dude, you are a natural,” he told Ben.

“You think?”

Henry nodded. “Are you good here for a little longer while I warm this up?”

“Yeah, of course,” Ben replied as he watched Georgia give a sleepy yawn. “She’s adorable, Henry.”

“I know. And just think you’ll have your own soon,” Henry gave Ben a knowing smile and walked back towards the kitchen.

And Ben knew right there as the tears clouded his eyes, that there was a chance that he could actually do this.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leslie had never felt so stressed out in her life. Wednesday had now arrived and there was still no sign of Ben. She took the long route whenever she walked to her office so she would detour past the City Manager office just to see if he was there.

Nothing. His desk remained empty. There was nothing but a pile of unread post littering next to his keyboard.

She constantly felt like she was going to vomit; she blamed half of it on the morning sickness and the other half on the stress caused by Ben disappearing. 

Work was forgotten about. April had to step up and take over more projects; Ron had spoken to her about it, telling her to take a leave from the department until after her campaign. That’s what everyone assumed this was about, her campaign, not the fact that she was having a baby with her secret ex boyfriend.

And he had left for the week, without so much as a text to tell her where he was going.

She should text him right? Just drop him a message asking him where he is and whether he is thinking about what she said and has he made a decision.

Leslie grabbed her phone and drafted out a text…but she couldn’t do it, she deleted it and set her phone back down.

She gave him a week, and she needed to respect that.

Thursday was the same; there was still no sign of him. Leslie went to her campaign meetings and discussed her polling numbers. She was climbing which was amazing news, and her popularity was soaring. Leslie just had to fake a smile and nod.

She saw Chris again. He led a meeting in the Parks Department, and Leslie could tell he was struggling to get through it without Ben; Chris was not good at delivering bad news, so he nearly started crying when he told them about the new raccoon nest they found in Ramsett Park.

“Ok, we are doing something tonight to take your mind off this,” Ann said when Friday finally came to a close. “I’m coming over tonight and we can watch movies and get some food… just relax and forget all about being pregnant and irresponsible fathers.”

Leslie agreed. A night alone with Ann did seem pretty good. She was the only one keeping her sane in all this.

Ann drove to Leslie’s after picking up a couple pints of chocolate ice cream and grabbing every girly film she had in her collection. Tonight would be filled with Grease, Pretty Woman and The Wizard of Oz.

“Thank you for doing this,” Leslie said as Ann placed the ice cream in the freezer. “You are a wonderful, parental ostrich.”

Ann smiled at her best friend. “Tonight we relax. I’ve got some sparkling cider so we can pretend it’s champagne! Plus neither of us will wake up with a hangover; added bonus!”

Leslie giggled, and the two walked into the lounge, “I’m going to change into some pyjamas and then we can order the pizza,” Leslie told Ann and took off for upstairs. Ann began to tidy some of the boxes and papers that Leslie left constantly scattered around her house; she really hoped that she’d be a bit more organised when the baby arrived. Sure Leslie was on top of her work life but she needed to make sure that her baby was a top priority.

Ann cleared the coffee table so they could put their glasses down and eat in front of the TV when she noticed the art supplies, plus a half finished binder titled ‘what to do if Ben doesn’t come back’.

God she hoped he saw some sense, if not she’d happily knock it into him.

She stuffed the binder into a nearby cupboard, knowing that Leslie would probably be upset or embarrassed about it. And tonight wasn’t about worrying where Ben was or what he was going to do; tonight was a relaxing girls night with plenty of food.

There was a knock at the door, bringing her out of her thoughts; she could hear Leslie upstairs asking Ann to answer it for her. Ann stepped over a pile of old copies of ‘The Pawnee Journal’ and scrambled to the door.

She opened it to see a slightly dishevelled Ben standing in front of her, holding a bouquet of flowers.

“Uh…Hi, Ann,” Ben mumbled nervously. “Is…Is Leslie-”

“Yeah, she’s here,” Ann said, leaning on the doorframe to block his entry. “What do you want?”

“To talk to her…I take it you know?”

“Of course I know,” Ann spat. “Who do you think has been comforting her while she cries in her office wondering where the fuck you’ve been?”

“I’m sorry,” Ben quickly stammered. Ann was glaring at him like he was a schoolboy being told off. “I needed to clear my head, but…I want to talk to her; I’m ready.”

“Ann, who is it?” They both turned at the sound of Leslie’s voice. She walked downstairs clad in her paw print pyjamas; when she spotted, Ben she stopped in her tracks.

“Hey,” she whispered, her eyes locking on his.

“Hi,” Ben replied, “Can…can I come in?”

“S-sure,” Leslie replied nervously. Ann turned and gave Ben one last stern glance and walked away from the door. Ben shuffled in nervously, shifting the bouquet in his arms.

“Um…these are for you. They reminded me of the Wildflower Mural, and…I thought you might like them,” Ben mumbled as he passed the bouquet over to Leslie.

“They’re beautiful,” her voice filled with sincerity as she inhaled the heavenly smell of the flowers. “Thank you.”

“Can we talk?” he asked, anxiously looking over his shoulder at Ann. “Alone?”

Leslie’s heart pounded in her ears, “Sure. Ann, can you put these in water?” she asked, handing the flowers over to her best friend.

Ann took them and gave Leslie a quick hug. “I’ll be upstairs if you need me ok?”

Leslie nodded and let Ann leave the room; she took a deep breath and turned back to Ben. She gestured the couch to him, and they both sat down.

“Um…is that-.” Ben started, noting the two champagne flutes on the coffee table.

“Sparkling Cider,” Leslie quickly responded. “I’m not that stupid.”

“Of course,” Ben replied. “Look, Leslie…I’m so sorry I took off; I feel like such an ass… I just panicked and I wasn’t thinking properly…You must be so mad at me.”

Leslie shook her head slowly. “Not really, I gave you a week to think about it and if that meant leaving Pawnee for a few days then that’s fine.”

“I went to Chicago,” Ben cut in. “My brother lives there. I spent a few days with him and…and his baby girl. She’s so cute, Leslie. Unbelievably adorable, and I got to hold her and everything”.

He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone, showing Leslie photos of himself holding baby Georgia close to his chest, Leslie’s heart warmed at the sight of the picture, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

“What I’m trying to say is,” Ben licked his lips anxiously and turned to face Leslie, “I’m not letting you do this alone. Sure the timing isn’t great and we don’t have a failsafe plan right now but…Leslie, I want to have this baby with you. I want to be there for everything, first steps, first words, graduation. I want to do this with you…if you’ll let me?”

Leslie didn’t say anything; she let out a loud sob and threw her arms around Ben’s neck. She cried into his shoulder as he rubbed her back soothingly.

Ben nuzzled into her blonde hair. “I’m so sorry I put you through all that stress and worry, but I’m sure about this.” He pulled away and cupped Leslie’s face with his hands, wiping the tears from her cheek. “We’re a team in this, ok?

Leslie nodded right as Ann walked back into the room “I heard crying,” she murmured to justify the interruption.

“We’re fine,” Leslie said, pulling away to wipe her eyes.

“And are you in or out?” Ann said, her eyes switching to Ben.

Ben placed a hand on top of Leslie’s. “I’m in”.

Ann let out an apparent sigh of relief. “Oh thank god. I’m starving. Are we going to order that pizza or what, Knope?”

Leslie frantically nodded. “Yes, yes, let’s order it” she looked up at Ben, “Are you going to stay? If that’s ok, Ann?”

Ann rolled her eyes. “Alright, I guess that’s fine with me.”

Ben nodded. “I’d love to,” he said to Leslie, giving her a soft smile.

Ann left the room to go and order the pizzas, leaving Leslie and Ben alone again; she wrung her hands anxiously in her lap.

“I kind of don’t really want to talk about it tonight,” She told him. “I just want to relax; tomorrow we can plan and talk about everything… is that ok?”

“Whatever you want. I mean I don’t really have any say over what you want to do; I did get my girlfriend pregnant,” Ben replied, not realising what he had just said.

Leslie paused and jumped backwards. “You…you called me your girlfriend?”

“Oh, um, sorry, I just kind of assumed we’d get back together. I mean I want to, what do you – Mmph!”

Leslie had cut him off by pressing her lips against his, Ben happily accepted the kiss, wrapping her arms around her waist and pulling her closer. He had missed this so much, it had been six weeks of not feeling her body and her mouth against his, the sweet smell of her pineapple shampoo, and her hands knotted in his hair. 

It was all just perfect.

Leslie deepened the kiss and carefully angled herself so she could climb on Ben’s lap, her legs straddling around him. Ben moaned into her mouth, causing Leslie’s lips to part and allowing him entry.

“The pizza will be here in half an hour – seriously guys!” Ann snapped as she walked back into the room to come face to face with Leslie and Ben hard-core making out.

Leslie and Ben quickly pulled away, and Ann rolled her eyes. “That’s how you got into this mess,” she told them as she sat on the edge of the couch.

Leslie climbed off Ben’s lap so she could sit in the middle of Ann and Ben. “I’m sorry, he just has a cute face”.

Ben couldn’t help but snicker and laced his hands with Leslie’s.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were halfway through The Wizard of Oz when Ann looked over at Leslie and Ben and saw them both fast asleep, Leslie cuddled up against Ben’s chest; he was snoring softly while his head rested on top of hers.

Ann shook her head at the two, they had both been through so much today, of course they were exhausted. She smiled at the lovebirds and got up from the couch. It was almost midnight, and she should be getting home anyway. She grabbed a blanket from a pile in the corner and carefully draped it around the two. They looked perfectly comfortable and content sleeping here.

Ann scribbled a message to Leslie and placed it on the coffee table by her phone. It said that she was happy things had worked out and she’d call her tomorrow.

Gingerly, she opened the door, trying not to make any noise. Before stepping outside into the warm September air, she took one last look at Leslie and Ben all curled up on the couch and sighed.

In the muddle of this messy situation, this might have just been the best thing that could’ve happened to them.


	4. The First Bump

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is up! Thank you all so much for the amazing comments and all the kudos so far! This chapter wouldn't be here without the help of supervanillabear31. She's been so awesome and helped me when I hit a wall with this. 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy!

Ben woke the next morning resting his head against a pile of magazines next to the armrest of the couch. He grunted at the un-comfortableness and rolled his head back around to meet with the warmth and softness of Leslie’s hair.

He then remembered dozing off after Dorothy met the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz; he assumed Leslie fell asleep around the same time he did. There was a soft blanket covering their bodies and he could only think that Ann did this.

He grinned softly and kissed the top of her head. How was she still asleep? It was well past 9 on a Saturday morning, and she hadn’t so much as stirred. 

This tiny baby inside of her was really draining her of her normal amount of energy. It was a pretty good thing as she could always stand to stay in bed a little longer than she usually woke up, and that meant Ben actually stood a chance of sleeping in whenever they were together.

His fingers etched around a small strip of skin that was exposed just beneath her pyjama top, just around her stomach. His fingers gently stroked around the soft, flat skin. Their baby was in there, all snug and probably too tiny to even acknowledge what was going on around it. 

Ben tried to calculate in his head how far along Leslie was. That last night they slept together just before they broke up was about six or seven weeks ago. She couldn’t be too far along, and, as Ben’s finger traced her abdomen, there was no sign of growth there. But he knew; he knew there was someone beautiful and precious growing there.

He felt Leslie shift a little next to him, and she slowly raised her head. Her eyes met Ben’s and a sleepy smile spread across her lips.

“Good morning,” Ben said softly. “Did I wake you?”

Leslie shook her head. “No. Did we sleep here last night?”

Ben nodded, “Yeah. I don’t know where Ann is. I think she left.”

Leslie awkwardly shimmied forward to grab her phone from the coffee table and noticed the note that Ann had left her; she quickly scanned it over and settled back down next to Ben.

“She said she went home last night and she’s glad things are ok between us,” she told Ben with a smile. “But she said we still need to talk about this properly. She wants to meet us at JJ’s for breakfast.”

Ben grunted and rubbed his eyes. “Alright. I guess we do actually need to talk about this.”

He gently shifted Leslie so he could stand up. “I’ll go back to my place to change. Shall I meet you there?”

“You’re not going to run away again are you?” Leslie asked as she raised her eyebrow.

“Of course not. I’m in, remember? You’re kind of stuck with me for 9 months.” He grinned and leaned down to give Leslie a kiss. She smiled against his lips; she had missed this so much.

“I’ll meet you in an hour,” he told her as he walked towards the front door.

Leslie heard him walking down her garden path and his car door opening. She sighed softly to herself, bunching the blanket around her as she stood up. She saw the flowers that Ann had placed in a vase for her on her dining room table and she smiled.

There was still so much to discuss regarding the baby, but at least things were starting to piece together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ok,” Ann started as she took a sip of her coffee. “I’m calling this the first official meeting of ‘Ann helps you both get your shit together.’ You two are having a baby, and that’s great news. But what are you going to do? Chris is so strict on no government relationships so if you come clean now, he’ll probably fire you both.”

Ben and Leslie exchanged nervous glances, “I know” Leslie mumbled as she wrung her hands together.

They had gotten a both in the corner to try and go undetected; to anyone walking by it just looked like three good friends having a late breakfast, nothing more. 

“And what about your campaign?” Ann asked Leslie. “What are you going to do? I think you should drop out. Just tell them you’ve changed your mind. It’s going to be stressful, not to mention when people find out that you’re not married and having a baby you will surely go down in votes. People are annoyingly backwards in this town.” 

“I don’t want to drop out,” Leslie said determinedly. “I’ve been given a great opportunity here to at least run, I want the experience. And come on, pregnancy hasn’t stopped women in government before. I could be the first elected City Councilwoman to be pregnant while running.”

“Or the first City Councilwoman to crash and burn and seriously hurt herself and the baby in the process,” Ann said sternly. “Look, I’m telling you this as a friend and as a nurse. Don’t do it. I see tons of pregnant women daily, and they are exhausted and cranky. How do you think you’re going to manage?”

Leslie pursed her lips, “I don’t know. But I’ll cope. I’ll be ok.”

Ann’s eyes travelled to Ben. “What do you think?”

“I think it’s possible,” Ben answered. “Sure there’s risks and stuff, but I’ll be there to help you out the best I can.”

Ann scowled, “Ok, but what about when all this comes to an ugly head and there’s a scandal, not just about how a city council candidate had an affair with her boss but is also pregnant? What about that? You guys can’t tell people right now. They say you should wait twelve weeks before telling people so we have time to come up with a fail safe plan.”

“Well the obvious option is to tell them the truth.” Ben said calmly. “Once we have the twelve week scan we can come out then, tell everyone what’s been happening.”

“But that gives you a bigger risk of getting fired.” Ann reminded him. “Chris won’t be happy to hear that you two have been sneaking around for that long without telling him. At least come out now with him.”

Ben swallowed a mouthful of his coffee. His stomach was in knots and the hot drink wasn’t helping at all. Last night things seemed like they could actually work out, now they were talking about job losses and Leslie’s campaign being in trouble.

It was the worst-case scenario for him. Trying to raise a baby without a job, and no money coming in. He saw his parents argue and scream their heads of at each other about money and god only knows what else. But what other option did he and Leslie have?

He sighed and placed his head in his hands. “We’ve been sneaking around for months now. What’s a few more weeks?”

Ann sighed. “Ok sure so you want to lie to him for a little longer. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. We’re dealing with a human being here. I’m just trying to get you both out to the other side with both of your jobs safe.”

“I know, and we really appreciate it,” Leslie sighed looking down at her hands. “We could lie.”

“What?”

“We could lie about it. Make up a story until the campaign is over. I just have been really desperate about having a baby and went to a sperm bank or something. That’s it. No scandal. I’m just a woman who wanted a baby or whatever,” Leslie explained to the two.

Ben and Ann exchanged concerned glances. Ben immediately shook his head.

“No. Don’t do that, because I still want to be apart of the baby’s life. It’ll hurt you in the long run and with result in a bigger scandal,” Ben told her, reaching over to clasp her hand in his with a gentle squeeze.

“We have to tell the truth…accept whatever we did was wrong. And deal with the scandal…I hate how they call it a scandal. We’re just two people who really liked each other and are now having a baby, what’s so wrong with that?” Ben asked sound annoyed.

“People in this town will pick holes in anything, especially when your life is so public,” Ann replied. “But I think it’s the better option. We can cover up for the next twelve weeks until it’s safe to do so, but when that time comes you have to tell Chris and your advisors. It’s the only way.”

Leslie and Ben looked at each other again. Leslie looked worried, her eyes creased and her nose wrinkled. Ben quickly rested a hand on her thigh.

“It will be ok,” he told her. “Your campaign won’t be in trouble. I promise.”

But in reality, he wasn’t so sure of anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leslie hunched over the bucket groaning in agony, tears streaming down her face as she retched loudly and more vomit poured into the bowl.

A week had passed since Ben had come back from Chicago, and morning sickness had hit Leslie like a ton of bricks. He woke up that morning to a voicemail of the sounds of Leslie sobbing and vomiting; he frantically got dressed in record time and drove around to find her with her head hanging in the toilet bowl.

He managed to coax her back into bed and found a bucket from downstairs (she had four buckets. Why does someone need that many buckets?) She grabbed hold of it and immediately tossed more of her cookies.

Ben dutifully sat behind her, rubbing her back and holding her hair as she puked. But something was wrong. Was someone meant to puke this much?

There was a slight break in her vomiting, and Ben moved around to face her, careful not to jolt her to cause another re-appearance of her dinner.

“Can I take this?” he asked, gesturing to the bucket. Leslie didn’t respond.

“Ok…I’m going to take this and empty it out super quick, I’ll be right back.” He managed to pry the bucket from her hands and hurried to the bathroom. He was just pouring the vomit away down the toilet when he heard a frantic cry from the bedroom.

“Ben!”

“I’m coming! I’m coming!” Ben quickly called back. He didn’t bother flushing the toilet, making a mental note to come back and do that and sprinted back to Leslie who was dry heaving into her hand.

Ben quickly shoved the bucket back into her hands, and Leslie heaved into the bucket, hanging her head into it while she sobbed even harder.

He decided in that moment that he wasn’t going to work today; he couldn’t. She needed him, and he didn’t want to leave her alone. Especially like this.

“It’s ok,” he soothed, “It’s ok. I’m not going to leave you. I’m going to be here with you all day.”

The door to the bedroom flew open and Ann came running in, Ben could only assume that Leslie had called her too.

“Is she ok?” Ann asked, hurrying to Leslie’s other side. She didn’t touch her; Ben had wrapped himself around her, offering Leslie everything she needed at the moment

“I don’t know. She won’t stop puking,” Ben said as he rubbed her back.

Ann felt Leslie’s forehead and then looked back at Ben. “You need to go to work,” she told him. “You’ve already taken time off last week. You can’t take another day off. I’ll stay with her.”

Ben nodded in agreement; Chris would be wondering why he needed to take another day off after those few days last week. He carefully ran his hands over her back; Leslie had stopped vomiting for the time being but was still dry heaving and crying into the bucket.

He gently placed his hands over her cheeks and rubbed the tears away, Leslie could barely hold her eyes open and she was as white as a sheet.

“Leslie, honey, listen to me. I have to go to work, ok? But Ann’s here, and she’s going to take care of you today,” Ben soothed softly. He placed a kiss against her sweaty forehead and released her to hang her head back into the bowl.

“Call me if anything happens?” Ben told Ann as he grabbed his jacket and left the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben couldn’t concentrate all day. He anxiously tapped his knee up and down at his desk. He was only thinking about Leslie and their baby, and how he had never seen her look so exhausted and zapped of energy. Every time he tried to go back to work or type an email, her tear stained face popped back into his mind.

The worst part was Chris; he was so cheerfully peppy and was buzzing around Ben like a fly. He wanted Ben to lead meetings and fulfil his duties in city hall. But Ben’s head wasn’t in it at all.

“Ben, I am concerned,” Chris said at lunchtime. “You look depressed.” 

Ben sat upright and frowned, “I’m not. I’m fine; it’s just been a stressful week. I’m ok. Promise.”

Chris wiped his brow, “Phew, that’s good. Because I recognise depression; I once took an intense course all about mental health and can smell the signs from a mile away. You’ve been quiet and not yourself. And I’m worried.”

Ben gave Chris the biggest forced grin he could possibly muster. “Honestly I’m fine. Just tired. We should get lunch or something soon, I’m starving,” he said, trying to change the subject.

“That is _literally_ the best idea I have heard all day,” Chris beamed at Ben and jumped up, “I’ll get my coat.”

Ben sighed in relief as Chris darted back into his office; he quickly grabbed his phone to check if there were any texts from Ann. His phone was silent and empty without any messages.

Ben contemplated calling her, but he didn’t want to disturb Leslie in case she was sleeping. He rubbed the back of his neck and turned his computer off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben had returned from lunch when his phone started buzzing. he scrambled to answer it and pressed it to his ear.

“Ann?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Is she ok?” Ben stammered down the phone. “Has she stopped being sick?”

“No, she’s gotten worse,” Ann admitted, “I had to take her to the hospital. She’s dehydrated and-”

“WHAT?” Ben cried out frantically. “I’m coming down.”

“No! Stay there. You can’t come here because they’ll have questions for you, and it’ll just be awkward for everyone.” Ann told him, “I’m with her, she’ll be ok with me. Just come to her house after work.” 

Ben rubbed his face with a shaky hand. “Just please tell me the baby’s going to be ok?” he asked, his voice trembling.

“The baby will be fine. It’s probably just extreme morning sickness. She’s in the examining room now; it’s all confidential so don’t worry, ok?” Ann said kindly to him.

Ben could feel tears stinging his eyes. “Ok.”

“Ben, she’s going to be ok, they’ll both be ok.” 

“I know,” Ben whispered, swallowing back a sob.

Ann hung up and left Ben alone with his own spiralling thoughts. He collapsed down at his desk and put his head in his hands; there was no way he could concentrate on work now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4:30 finally came around, and Ben couldn’t leave his desk fast enough. He grabbed his jacket and practically sprinted out of city hall, heart slamming in his chest.

He jumped into his Saturn and sped as fast as he could. Because the last thing he wanted was to get pulled over on the way to his sick girlfriend.

He parked in Leslie’s drive wonkily and hurried into her house. There was no sign of them in her lounge, so he quickly hurried upstairs. 

She was there, sat upright and the colour back in her face. Ann was puttering around her side of the bed, tucking her in and setting a glass of water on her side.

“Ben!” Leslie exclaimed when she saw him. He quickly zoomed to her side, pressing a gentle hand to her stomach and kissing her cheek several times.

“Are you ok? Is the baby ok? What happened?” he gabbled nervously.

“Ben, relax!” Leslie giggled under his grasp, “We’re ok; the baby is ok. It was just some bad morning sickness.”

“They pumped some fluids back into her and gave her a prescription for an antiemetic.” Ann explained.

“Which tasted like crap,” Leslie put in.

“And that’s ok for the baby?” Ben asking, looking from Ann to Leslie.

“It’s all fine.” Leslie said, rubbing the back of Ben’s hand, which hadn’t left her stomach. “They did suggest we book a check up with the doctor, we might be able to actually see the baby for the first time.”

Ben’s face lit up, “We might?” 

“Uh huh,” Leslie said happily.

Ann slowly started to gather up her things. “I think you can manage things from here on, Ben? Plus I have a shift at the hospital, so I have to go.”

“Thank you for looking after me, you beautiful, marvellous land mermaid,” Leslie gushed to Ann.

“It’s no trouble,” Ann smiled as she pointed to Ben, “You look after her now.”

“I will.” Ben said with a determined nod.

He turned to Leslie. “Ok, so I’m going to cook you some of my famous chicken noodle soup, and we are going to watch movies the rest of the day. Sound good?”

Leslie beamed at him, “That sounds amazing.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Can I tell you something?” Leslie asked. They were half way through ‘Star Wars: Return of the Jedi’ (Ben’s influence) when she piped up.

“Mm?” Ben hummed; he was sat up right on the bed rest fully clothes and over the covers next to her, dozing in and out of sleep.

“I never actually ate that chicken soup the first time you made it for me” Leslie admitted, biting her lip. “At the hospital when I had the flu? I left it behind.”

Ben smirked, “I had a feeling you might have. I shouldn’t have distracted you with those waffles first. What did you think of it now that I actually watched you eat it?”

“It was really good.” Leslie sighed into him. “Really tasty, and it’s the first thing I’ve managed to keep down all day.”

He leaned against her and rubbed her abdomen. “How do you feel?”

“Better. I’m sorry we worried you,” Leslie said as she nuzzled into his chest.

“It’s ok, as long as you are both alright.” He told her and then shifted slightly.

“I better head back. You need your rest.” Ben said as he swung his legs off the bed.

Leslie immediately reached over and grabbed his wrist. “No, stay with me tonight, please?”

Ben turned back to her; she was looking at him with pleading eyes. “Please? Stay with us?”

Ben let a small smile cross his face and he toed his shoes back off, “Alright. But we go to sleep now, ok?”

Leslie nodded, and Ben pulled his clothes off, stripping down to his undershirt and boxers. He climbed back in next to her and pulled her close to him. She curled up against him and rested her head on his chest, Ben’s hand finding her back and rubbing it soothingly.

At that moment, he realized something he was often too afraid to express: He loved her. He loved her so much. This whole day had been a scary whirlwind, but they came out the other side as a team, just like they always do. Just like they always will. They hadn’t said those three little words to each other yet, but he was so sure. He’d never been surer of anything in his entire life.

He loved Leslie Knope and the beautiful baby they created together.

“Leslie?” he mumbled, shifting her slightly. But the only response he got was a soft snore. It had been a hard day for her, and she was exhausted.

Ben smirked and cuddled her closer; he shifted down and placed a kiss against her stomach, “I love you.” He whispered to their baby.

He moved back up to Leslie’s lips and kissed her softly, “and I love you.” He whispered 

He was sure he’d be able to tell her properly another day.


	5. The Doctor's Visit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 5! Thank you all so much for the lovely comments that I have received so far for this! They mean so much to me! 
> 
> Thanks to supervanillabear31 and firstinfriendshipfourthinobesity for beta-ing this for me and helping this story along. You are both wonderful!!
> 
> Please remember to comment and kudos!

“The polls have you in second place.” William announced during one of their campaign meetings. “You’ve edged the lead in front of Fester Trim, however Brandi Maxxxx is the current leader thanks to her new porn film, ‘Whore White and the Seven Dongs’.”

“Great,” Leslie sulked; she was going to get beat out by Brandi Maxxxx, the porn star.

“This isn’t necessarily bad,” Elizabeth cut in. “Her popularity will drop once the movie becomes old news. That’s her tactic. You, however, are climbing in the polls and have nothing to worry about. We are still in early days, remember.”

Leslie nodded. This was one of the many campaign meetings she had this week. William and Elizabeth were hot on the trail to really get her campaign into serious motion. They had scheduled TV appearances, meet and greets for business owners, and speeches that were recorded and placed on the Internet. Things were going well so far, even though Leslie was still harbouring the big secret that she was pregnant.

“I did notice something during your appearance on Perd’s show. There were a couple of comments from people saying that they thought you looked distracted and unwell; is everything ok?” Elizabeth asked sincerely as she leaned on her arms.

Leslie’s eyes widened briefly. Crap, people were saying she looked ill? That wasn’t good. Sure, she might have had a bad bout of morning sickness before she left that day. She was still recovering from her visit to the hospital last week. Ben had told her to cancel the TV appearance and told her she needed to rest, but Leslie was adamant she was going to go. She tried to bring the colour back in her face with makeup, took one of the precious antiemetic drugs that she only used in emergencies, and went ahead with the show. That night when she got back to her house she curled up in her bed immediately and let Ben soothe her into a deep sleep as he ran his fingers through her hair.

She had thought she had gotten out of that without a hitch, and it wasn’t great that people were picking up on the fact that something was wrong. That’s probably the reason why Brandi Maxxxx was ahead of her in the polls.

“I…didn’t feel well,” Leslie admitted nervously. “I think I had food poisoning…from a bad burrito.”

She gulped; she had definitely used that excuse once before. But William and Elizabeth seemed to lap it up.

“Oh! Well as long as you are feeling ok now?” William asked. “You’ve got a space on Joan Callamezzo’s show, and she’ll probably have some things to say about your appearance.”

“I’m fine now, thank you.” Leslie quickly said. “And I’ll be just fine for Joan’s show. It’s out of my system, and I’m going to stay away from…Mexican food.”

Crap. Now she was seriously craving a burrito.

“There is another thing you should know,” William said, his voice growing stern. “There’s a strong rumour going around that Bobby Newport is planning to announce that he’s going to run for City Council against you.”

“Bobby Newport?” Leslie questioned, “Nick Newport’s son?”

William nodded. “We’re not worried, and you shouldn’t be either. He’s probably running because he’s bored or something. But we thought we better tell you so it isn’t a surprise you when it does come out.”

Leslie nodded; she could handle one of the Newport idiots. Considering she had never even heard of Bobby until today, her campaign was looking pretty strong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

William and Elizabeth adjourned the meeting and left Leslie to go back to the Parks Department. She closed the door to the meeting room and shifted her padfolio under her arm.

Things were going well…too well. She knew it wouldn’t last once she came clean about her pregnancy, and it scared her knowing that Elizabeth and William might quit over it. They were both insanely good at their jobs, which indecently was making her look good. What could they do to make a pregnant city council candidate look good?

Leslie placed her padfolio against her stomach and held it close, imagining the baby inside of her. It was nestled safely in her uterus and completely unaware of all the fears and worries that Leslie had, and it was going to stay like that until it was ready to come out in seven months time. She took a deep breath in and shook her head, flicking her blonde hair back over her shoulders confidently. For now, she just had to enjoy the fact that her campaign was going from strength to strength.

“Leslie Knope!”

She spun on the heel at the sound of her name and saw Chris walking towards her; she lit up when she realised that Ben was right behind him.

“How are you? How are things with your campaign?” Chris asked cheerily while Ben balanced on his heels next to him.

“Things are good,” Leslie sad as she tried to concentrate on Chris. “I’m climbing in the polls, and my advisors seem happy.”

“That is excellent news,” Chris exclaimed. “I am very happy for you and so is Ben! Isn’t that right, Ben?”

“Oh. Yeah, really happy,” Ben mumbled, his nose twitching adorably.

Chris then turned to Ben. “We have that meeting with the Education Department in fifteen minutes. However, Councilman Howser has asked that I come to his office for a talk. Will you be ok to manage alone?” 

“Sure,” Ben shrugged.

“Excellent!” He then turned back to Leslie, “I should go. I’m meeting my girlfriend, Millicent Gergich, for a late breakfast.” He gave them both a cheery wave and left.

Leslie and Ben were alone; he gave her a soft smile and joined her as they both walked down the corridor slowly.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

“Is there any chance I can stay with you tonight?” Ben asked quietly, wary of the people walking around them. “April and Andy are apparently having a Halloween party, and I don’t really want to be around for that.”

“Sure, you can come over anytime; you know that.” Leslie told him with a gentle smile.

“I know…but…I just thought I’d ask,” Ben said with an embarrassed shrug.

“So you remember where we are meeting today, right?” Leslie asked, changing the subject “The address is –”

“1020 Maple Street, I know; you’ve emailed it to me seventeen times.” Ben smirked as he cut her off.

Leslie blushed. They had booked their appointment with an obstetrician that Ann recommended and it had finally come around. Leslie had been preparing for it and came up with a plan to get her and Ben there without detection from anyone at City Hall.

“Sorry,” she gulped. “I’m just a little anxious about it all. I mean what if we see someone from City Hall or if there’s something wrong with the baby or-”

“Leslie, don’t worry about it,” Ben said calmly. “The baby is going to be just fine, and no one will know we’re there. Doctors have to be confidential anyway.”

He stopped her and placed a hand on her shoulder. “You and the baby will be ok, promise.”

Ben leaned forward on his heels ever so slightly, as if he was going in for a kiss and then paused, remembering where he was he backed off and took his hand off Leslie’s shoulder.

“I…er…should go. I have that meeting with the Education Department,” Ben explained. He gave Leslie and awkward wave and took off for his office.

Leslie smiled sadly and walked the opposite direction back to the Parks Department. She really wished they could act like a regular couple. She could tell Ben was feeling weird about the whole thing, and it sucked knowing there was nothing she could do to make him feel better.

At least they had the evenings together. Ben usually came over to get away from April and Andy. He’d cook her dinner and they’d snuggle on the sofa. Sex had been off the table since they got back together, which Leslie hated. If they were going to do this for real, they should at least be able to act like a proper couple outside of work hours. That or Ben was just worried about hurting the baby. 

Leslie made a mental note to talk to him about it after their appointment.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben got back to his office with a few minutes to spare; he sat down at his desk and stared at the emails on his computer screen. A reminder popped up telling him about his and Leslie’s appointment and he quickly dismissed it.

He took a slow breath inward; he tried to act calm in front of Leslie earlier, but, in reality he was terrified. This baby hadn’t exactly been conceived in the conventional way, and Leslie had been so stressed out recently, mainly thanks to him. What if something _was_ wrong with the baby? She did have that bad morning sickness episode not too long ago. What if that was a warning of the bad things that were to come? 

He could feel his thoughts spiralling out of control. He had no time to be the nervous wreck in this situation; he had to pull it together for Leslie. 

He had to be her Shamwow.

There was a knock at the door, and his receptionist walked in. “There’s a representative from the Education Department here to see you.”

Ben looked up from his desk and put on his best fake smile. “Great, send them in.”

The receptionist left, giving Ben enough time to gather his thoughts and to go back to being professional and stern, the Education Department had been on his ass recently and that was all thanks to a certain Marlene Griggs-Knope.

He frowned, it wasn’t Marlene who booked this meeting was it? He was just piecing the dots together in his head when it was too late.

“So you knocked my daughter up?”

Ben felt the colour drain from his face as he slowly looked up and came face to face with Marlene. She was scowling at him with her arms folded.

“Um…”

“Um is the sound in dumb. Which is what you must be for not using a condom,” Marlene stated.

Ben flushed a bright pink. This was so not happening right now. Ben could only assume that Leslie had told her mom; he kind of saw it coming really, considering they were fairly close.

“I…don’t know how it happened; I used condoms,” Ben stammered out.

Marlene raised her eyebrow. “Well clearly you weren’t careful enough.”

Ben swallowed hard. “You’re not actually here to discuss the Education Department, are you?”

“Wow, you are quick,” Marlene quipped. “I just hope my future grandchild inherits your wit.”

Ben gritted his teeth. “Look, I could really do without your sarcasm right now.” He glanced at Chris’s office and was relieved to see that he was still out. “Yeah ok fine, I got Leslie pregnant. But I’m in this for the long run; Leslie knows that. We’re doing this together, and I’m not leaving her.”

“Well, I guess that should make me happy,” Marlene grumbled. “I did plan to meet with you and Chris today to tell him what you’ve been getting up to-”

“Please don’t do that,” Ben interjected with a panicked tone to his voice. “We can’t tell anyone yet; we’re not ready!”

He frantically buried his head in his hands, trying to find a way out of this horrible situation. She was going to tell Chris herself. She couldn’t, she just couldn’t. It was affect Leslie more than him, did she not realise what she was about to do to her own daughter?

“Relax.” Marlene ordered, clearly enjoying watching Ben shut down under her threats. “I decided not to so I sent him off to meet with Councilman Howser. Even though you are incredibly stupid, I still want my daughter to be happy.”

Ben breathed a huge sigh of relief and leaned back in his chair. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me,” Marlene replied. “Just look after her…you are looking after her, right?”

“Of course,” Ben assured her. “My main concern is her and the baby.”

“And are you taking care of her sexually too? Sex is very important during pregnancy.”

Ben blushed a brighter shade of pink. “I…don’t really feel comfortable talking about that.”

“Ben, she’s already pregnant. I know very well what you two have gotten up to,” Marlene teased. “So, are you?”

Ben suddenly had the urge to take his shoes off and hold them up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leslie anxiously flicked through one of the out-of-date magazines in the waiting room, Ben was ten minutes late, and she was trying not to think about it. She did tell him to park three blocks away just in case; he was probably just walking up now.

She looked up at the other couples around her. They all looked so in love and happy. She watched as husbands and boyfriends placed their hands over their loved one’s bellies and rub them delicately. All of these people in here looked like they had planned this. They were here because they wanted to be here, not because it was an accident.

No, she couldn’t think like that. She tossed the magazine back on the table to the side and placed a hand on her stomach. This was a blessing in disguise, not an accident. She always wanted kids, and it just happened a little earlier than expected. 

There wasn’t much to feel as Leslie’s hand wandered across her abdomen. She could tell that a bump was starting to form, but it was still too tiny to be seen. It just looked like she was a little bloated. 

Their little baby must be getting comfortable in there, and now she might be able to see him or her for the first time. A smile crept across her face, even though she hadn’t planned this, she was still insanely in love with their beautiful baby. 

Just then, the door opened, and Ben came rushing in. Leslie breathed a sigh of relief as he made a beeline for her and sat in the chair next to her, grabbing her hand and pressing it against his lips.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” he told her. “I had a surprise visit from your mom.”

“What?” Leslie gasped, turning to face him.

“She booked an appointment with me to basically tell me off for getting you pregnant. I’m assuming you told her?” Ben asked, raising his eyebrow.

“I had to; she’s my mom.”

“I know you had to tell her, but you could have warned me.” Ben mumbled as he slumped next to her. “I acted like a complete idiot.”

“It’s fine,” Leslie said calmly as she laced their fingers together. “Sure, she was a little annoyed that we weren’t really prepared for it, but she’s excited to be a grandmother. She was just probably doing it to scare you.”

“Well, she did a great job at that.” Ben replied, running a shaky hand through his hair.

Just then the examining room door opened and a friendly-faced doctor poked his head around.

“Leslie Knope?” he called and beamed at the two as they stood up and walked into his office.

“Welcome! I’m Dr Saperstein, and I’m going to be looking after you throughout this wonderful journey that you are going through,” Dr Saperstein introduced as he shook Leslie’s hand.

Ben frowned. Saperstein… That name sounded oddly familiar…Where had he heard that name before.

“I’m assuming you’re the dad?” Dr Saperstein asked Ben, bringing him out of his thoughts.

“Oh…yeah, I am,” Ben said returning his handshake.

Ben helped Leslie onto the bed, and Dr Saperstein took a seat next to her. “Alright. So I got your file from your doctor, and we think you are about nine weeks pregnant?”

Leslie nodded “Yep. Right around that mark.”

Dr Saperstein tinkered with the machine in front of him, “If we are lucky, the baby might be big enough to catch a glimpse of. Are you ready?”

Leslie squeaked and looked at Ben who jumped to her side and grabbed her hand. “Yeah, I think so,” she replied anxiously.

She pulled her blouse back, and Dr Saperstein applied a cold gel onto her stomach. He then placed the scanner against her belly and watched the computer screen intently.

It took a few minutes, but then a strange sound filled the room, which sounded like music to Ben and Leslie’s ears.

“There’s the heartbeat, its nice and strong too,” Dr Saperstein replied happily, “So we know it’s in there.” 

Leslie beamed at Ben, who clung her hand tighter, the sound of their baby’s heartbeat reverberating in their ears.

“And here’s your healthy baby,” Dr Saperstein announced as he turned the computer screen to face the couple. 

It wasn’t much; it looked like a small bean. But Leslie and Ben were enthralled by the image. Tears pricked in Leslie’s eyes, and she tore her eyes away from the screen to Ben’s who was mimicking her expression.

“Wow,” Ben finally stammered out. “There it is.”

“Yeah,” Leslie whispered, completely and truly in love.

Ben leaned down and kissed her lips softly; he pulled away with a huge, proud smile as they both looked back to the screen, admiring their beautiful baby.

A loud thud outside brought them out of their emotional moment. Dr Saperstein looked up angrily.

“What on earth-”

“DADDY?”

Dr Saperstein rolled his eyes. “That would be my son. Excuse me.” He told the couple, but it was too late as the door burst open.

“Daddy! I need to borrow some money. My company is bankrupt!” Jean-Ralphio announced as he burst into the room with his cocky attitude. His eyes them fell upon Leslie and Ben, and he scoffed loudly.

“No way! L to the E to the S to the L to the I to the E is pregnant!” he cried out. “This is great; more of you to love, am I right?”

Leslie nearly fell out of the bed as she tried to swipe at Jean-Ralphio, but Ben managed to contain her.

“Son, Please wait outside, I’m with a patient,” Dr Saperstein said sternly.

“And Jello Shot?” Jean-Ralphio practically screamed as he noticed Ben. “This is hilarious!”

Before anyone could stop him, Jean-Ralphio pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled a number.

“Tommy-T! You’ll never guess who Jello Shot knocked up! It’s little Leslie Knope!”


	6. Meet n Greet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter six is up!! A huge thanks goes to the amazing supervanillabear31 for being awesome and beta-ing this for me!! 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy! Please don't forget to leave comments, kudos or other nice things!

Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Leslie and Ben watched in horror as Jean-Ralphio spilled their secret to Tom on the phone.

Ben bolted over to him, snatching the phone from his grasp, resulting in a surprised yelp from Jean-Ralphio. He pressed the device to his ear, breathing heavily.

“Tom. It’s Ben. Do not, I repeat, _do not_ , tell anyone about this!” he shouted.

“You got Leslie pregnant?” Tom’s shocked voice replied.

“Just don’t tell anyone; it’s a really complicated situation. We’ll meet you at Entertainment 720 in an hour. Don’t tell anyone!” And with that Ben hung up, angrily pushing it back into Jean-Ralphio’s grasp.

“Thanks for that,” Ben snapped sarcastically.

“No problemo!” Jean-Ralphio happily replied. “So, is this happening or what? A threesome with a pregnant lady? Are you down to clown?”

“Get. Out,” Leslie hissed through gritted teeth.

Jean-Ralphio shrugged. “Alright, I’ll try another day. Besides, that receptionist outside was giving me serious ‘do me’ eyes.”

Dr Saperstein rubbed his face in his hands. “Son, please leave. I will see you at home, and we can discuss your problems there.”

“Ok, Daddy. I love you,” The man-child shrieked as he bounded out of the room.

“I am incredibly sorry about this,” Dr Saperstein said to the couple. “But, back to your baby. It’s healthy and growing well. You two should be very proud.”

Leslie anxiously looked over at Ben who was rubbing his forehead. “Yeah, very proud.”

Dr Saperstein shut down his computer and wiped the gel from Leslie’s belly. “Alright, you will need to book an appointment for your twelve week scan with my receptionist…considering my son hasn’t done anything to her. I’ll also send two copies of the scan for you both to pick up with her.”

Ben helped Leslie as she climbed off the bed. “Thank you, Doctor,” Leslie said as she shook his hand once more.

They both left the examining room and back into reception, thankfully Jean-Ralphio had disappeared; however, the receptionist looked very peeved off. They could only assume that Jean-Ralphio had tried it on with her before leaving.

The receptionist booked in Leslie for her next appointment and then handed over two pictures of Leslie’s scan. 

“One for both of you,” she said with no emotion in her voice. Ben picked up his copy and all the anger and fear he felt not too long ago faded away, replaced with that warm, paternal feeling he felt when their first laid eyes on their baby.

Their little bean was healthy; that’s all he could have hoped for. He watched Leslie take her copy and smile at it, looking back up at Ben with tears glistening in her eyes.

Ben placed the picture in his wallet and took her hand. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

They walked out of the building, their hands still entwined. Ben walked Leslie to her car and once there he wrapped his arms around her.

“Everything’s ok,” he breathed into her hair.

Leslie nodded into his touch, “yeah…and it’s beautiful, Ben. I know we can’t see much of it right now but it’s our baby; we made that.”

Ben kissed the top of her head, “We made that. But we’ve got some serious damage control to take care of. We need to go to see Tom now, and make sure he keeps it to himself.”

Leslie nodded as Ben opened her car door for her, “I’ll meet you there,” she told him. Ben nodded and stood back so Leslie could close her care door. Then he walked back down the road to where he parked, his heart hammering in his chest. 

Of course things were going too well for them. Something had to go wrong, and that something was one of the biggest blabbermouths in Pawnee.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They both arrived at Entertainment 720 at the same time. They hurried into the large warehouse to see Tom sitting on one of the oversized chairs with his head in his hands.

“Tom. We need to talk,” Leslie started as they stormed towards him.

“You’re pregnant?” Tom asked, his eyes wide with shock.

She swallowed hard. “Yes, I am”.

“And you’re the father?”

Ben silently nodded.

“Holy crap, guys!” Tom exclaimed. “I mean, I knew you two nerds wanted to bone pretty hard but not that hard. I’m surprised Ben didn’t turn you off by talking about Star Wars during sex.”

“Why do you think I always talk about Star Wars?” Ben asked, grumpily. “No, scratch that. Why are you thinking about what I do in bed?”

“That’s not important right now,” Leslie cut in. “And if you must know he is actually very good in-”

“Ew. No. Stop.” Tom wailed, waving his arms around to stop her from talking.

“The point is we need to keep this a secret for now. No one can know. You saw how angry Chris was when we kissed that one time. What do you think he’ll do if he finds out that we’re having a baby? And my campaign too, that could be in trouble. We’re not ready for this to come out yet so we’d appreciate it if you just…kept your mouth shut!” Leslie ordered, clenching her fist in frustration.

Tom raised his eyebrows. “What’s in it for me?”

Leslie sighed, “Um…I’ll book Entertainment 720 for every event I have coming up for the rest of my life.”

Tom immediately closed his mouth; he began reserved and slumped down in his chair miserably. “Well… that would have been great if we hadn’t just declared bankruptcy.”

“What?” Leslie and Ben both exclaimed at the same time.

“We’re broke. We just found out today. That’s why Jean-Ralphio went to his dad. To try and get some money from him to start us up again,” Tom explained sadly.

“But you were supposed to host my meet and greet even tonight.” Leslie cut in. “We’ve got freaking Martin Kernston coming!”

“It’ll still go on,” Tom told her. “We just…might have to heat up the 720 coverage to try and get some money back into the company.”

“No!” Ben snapped. “This isn’t about your company right now. I warned you about this. I told you that if you didn’t start managing your finances you would be bankrupt. This is no ones fault but your own, and I am not going to let you ruin Leslie’s chance to get sponsorship from all those business because you can’t manage your own company.”

Leslie watched Ben as he told Tom off; she felt the hairs on her arms stand up as he defended her. He wanted to help her campaign and he wasn’t going to see Tom ruin it. And, holy crap, he looked so handsome when he was getting all strict like that.

She had never felt so attracted to him before.

Tom cowered back into his seat. “Alright, I’m sorry. I’ll cancel the rugs with my face on it. God…you two must really be in love.”

Ben and Leslie looked at each other. Leslie could feel her cheeks growing hot, and she looked down at her hands that were pulling anxiously at her jacket. When he finally gained the courage to look back up at Ben he was smiling back at her, a warm, kind smile that she had only seen a few times before.

Oh god, he was in love with her; she could see it now. And she was in love with him. She finally felt it with every fibre of her being.

She then paused and glared back at Tom, “Wait, you ordered _what?_ ”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben was sat on Leslie’s couch watching TV and munching on some of the Chinese takeout he ordered. He finished work about four hours ago and was waiting for Leslie to come back from her meet and greet with Pawnee’s small businesses. 

After they spoke to Tom, they both made their way back to work for the rest of the day. Leslie immediately threw herself into her campaign work and liaising with Tom to avoid turning it into an Entertainment 720 fest like he was planning. Ben went to the Parks Department at about five just before Leslie was about to leave and wished her good luck. He glanced around the office to make sure it was empty before placing a kiss on her cheek and then hurriedly making his escape.

He texted her a couple times to make sure it was all going well but he hadn’t heard anything back. He could only assume that she was far too busy to even look at her phone.

It was about 9:30 when the door finally opened, and Leslie walked in looking exhausted.

“Hey. How did it go?” Ben asked immediately as he turned off the TV, giving her his full attention.

“It went well…I think.” Leslie said as she sat next to him, stealing a forkful of rice from his bowl. “I mean, other than when Tom made this video for me basically singing my praises, and I started crying and not just like how I usually cry, I mean like sobbing, it took me fifteen minutes to calm down before I could even speak again. Stupid hormones.”

Ben smiled sympathetically and rubbed her shoulder. “I’m sorry about that. But at least it went well, right?”

Leslie nodded as she took another load of rice from Ben’s bowl; he tried to shield it from her, but he soon learned the hard way that he definitely could not keep food from pregnant women.

“Do you want your own instead of stealing mine?” Ben asked. “I got enough for the both of us.”

Leslie pursed her lips cheekily. “Yes please.”

Ben got up and walked to her kitchen and plated Leslie up her own food, making sure to avoid anything that might hurt the baby. As he placed the bowl in the microwave to heat it up a little, he peered around and looked at her.

She had ran upstairs quickly to change into a jumper and pyjama bottoms and was now getting comfortable on the couch. He watched as she tied her blonde curls back into a messy bun and answered the door to trick or treaters.

He walked back in time to see her admiring the children’s costumes and telling them all that they looked wonderful as she handed them some candy from a plastic pumpkin by the door. 

She was going to be a great mother; Ben had no doubts at all.

Leslie closed the door and spied the bowl of steaming food on the coffee table. She immediately bolted towards it and started shovelling food into her mouth with a contented groan.

“Hey, slow down; you’ll give yourself indigestion eating that fast.” Ben joked as he watched her.

“I’m pregnant, Ben. I can eat however I want.”

Ben chuckled and rubbed her back, “Alright, ok, I’ll lay off.”

He placed a hand on his pocket and pulled his wallet out. He opened it up and smiled at the sight of the scan picture. Even though there wasn’t much there at the moment, Ben had decided that it was the most amazingly beautiful thing he had ever laid his eyes on. In another three weeks time they’d be able to catch another glimpse of their baby. By then, it might have grown even more and they might be able to see limbs or a cute little nose.

Ben wrinkled his own nose. His was quite prominent and big. Leslie had the cutest button nose that was tiny and adorable. He just hoped for their unborn child’s sake that it had Leslie’s nose rather than his.

Leslie had finished her food in record time and placed the bowl back on the coffee table. She noticed Ben staring at the scan and sidled next to him, leaning against his side.

“Can you believe it?” she asked, nuzzling into his side.

“Just about,” Ben replied, not taking his eyes off the photo. “We’re having a baby, Leslie.”

He set his wallet in his lap and took her hands in his. “I think it’s all kind of sunk in, now that we’ve been able to see it. I know today wasn’t exactly the greatest with Tom finding out but…right now I’m so unbelievably happy.”

He clasped his hand around the back of her neck, moving her closer so their foreheads bumped together. “I really love you, Leslie. I know we’ve only just gotten back together and not really in the conventional way…but I love you so much. Both of you.”

Leslie felt tears sting the corners of her eyes, she tried to tell herself that she couldn’t cry; she had cried far too much today. Instead, she took a deep breath and tried to compose herself as her hands rested on the tops of his thighs.

“I love you too, Ben. We both do.”

She couldn’t take it anymore. She leaned in and kissed him hard, Ben happily reciprocating. Her hands moved upwards and tousled in his thick, brown hair, while he clung onto the nape of her neck.

Ben’s tongue swirled in Leslie’s mouth, causing her to moan and grip his hair harder. Her hands finally started to travel downwards, tugging at the hem of his shirt and trying to pull it over his head.

“Les, Leslie, wait.” Ben managed to get out in between kisses.

Leslie immediately pulled back. “What? What’s wrong?”

“A-are you sure?” Ben asked anxiously. “I mean, today’s been a really weird day. Are you sure you want this now?”

Leslie nodded frantically.” Yes. Yes I want this. What are you so concerned about?”

Ben pursed his lips. “Well…your mom kind of starting talking to me about sex earlier and…I’m not going to lie to you but it did kind of put me off everything.”

“Ew. Ben, please don’t think about my mom during sex.”

“No! I’m not going to! She just kept going on about how I need to take care of you sexually and it’s just…the thought of her knowing what we are doing doesn’t exactly turn me on,” Ben admitted bashfully.

Leslie cocked her head to the side. “We’re a couple, Ben. A secret couple, but still together no less. And we are having a baby together; I just want to feel close to you again instead of cuddling and making out. I mean, don’t get me wrong, that’s great but…I miss…us.”

Ben bit his lip. She was right; he missed her too. He missed everything about her and they should be acting like a couple. They had decided to throw caution to the wind and get back together, not just for the sake of the baby, but because they missed and loved each other. They both said it tonight. And it was true that their relationship had to be a secret but they could easily be imitate in the safety of Leslie’s home. 

But there were a million thoughts running through Ben’s mind. What if something as simple as sex hurt the baby? He’d never forgive himself if he accidentally…poked the baby with his dick. Not to mention that would probably cause some mental scarring for life.

He looked back up at Leslie, her bright blue eyes staring back at him, almost pleading him to forget all of his worries and concede. She wanted him; she wanted to feel him grind against her, his erection bumping into her thigh until it hit its target.

And as anxious Ben was about sex and everything during that moment, he still pulled her underneath him at that comment, tugging at her bottom lip with his teeth.

“I miss us too,” he growled out into her mouth.

It didn’t take long for them both to clamber off the couch and upstairs to her bedroom, Leslie tumbled onto the bed and Ben crawled on top of her. Pulling her sweatshirt over her head, revelling in the fact that she wasn’t wearing a bra underneath.

“Good lord. When did they do that?”

“I know, right?” Leslie giggled, “I’m practically spilling out of my bras.”

Ben groaned and peppered kisses along her neck. The thought of her beautiful breasts spilling out of her bra created a friction in his pants. 

He moved down, trailing kisses around her breasts and towards her stomach, where he paused and stared intently at the tiny bump.

“I’ve never noticed this before,” Ben admitted as his hand reached around, circling the slight raise to her stomach.

“You can’t tell its there through clothes; you have to get up close and personal,” Leslie said as she stifled another laugh.

Ben pressed his lips down onto her stomach lovingly. “Hey, baby, I’m going to do some…things to your mommy now… please don’t remember any of this or hate me for it when you come out?”

Leslie cackled loudly. “I don’t think it can hear you. I just read a book that said its ears have only just started to grow.”

“I’m not taking any chances!” Ben told her as he moved down towards her thighs, pulling her pyjama bottoms and panties off to kiss and nip at the soft flesh.

Ben heard Leslie take a sharp intake of breath as he nudged her entrance with his lips, taking a long lap at her centre. He had missed her so much. It had been far too long to wait and he had no idea why he hadn’t done this as soon as they got back together. Her taste and scent was intoxicating and a drug so addictive Ben realised as he sucked at her clit that he would never be able to live without her.

He felt Leslie’s hips start to buck as she whimpered through her orgasm. Ben placed his hands against her hips to steady her and rubbed small circles against them as she mewled loudly into her pillow. He sat up and wiped his lips and watched Leslie rest her head back into the pillows, breathing heavily.

She saw stars as she came, a heat igniting in her lower belly and flaring up and around her body all the way down to the tips of her fingers.

Ben sat up and pulled his jeans and shirt off. They had been so in the moment that he realised he ate her pussy fully clothed. He tugged at his boxers, allowing his hard cock to spring free.

“Wait, do you have any condoms?” he asked, looking back at Leslie.

Leslie raised an eyebrow at him.

“Right. Stupid question,” Ben cringed with a chuckle, and he steadied himself to line up with Leslie’s entrance.

“Are you sure this is ok? This isn’t going to hurt the baby or you, is it? Maybe we should just leave it, I can go to the bathroom and –”

“Oh my god, Ben! Just shut up and fuck me!” Leslie snapped greedily, her voice leaking with carnal desire.

Ben was taken aback slightly, but still pushed into her with a grunt, steadying his body just on top of her, being careful not to put too much pressure on her nimble body.

Ben shuddered in pleasure as he felt her underneath him. He pressed his forehead against Leslie’s and when he opened his eyes, she noticed that his eyes were smouldering with pure lust.

“Why did we wait so long?” he growled as thrust, finding a rhythm that caused her to start panting.

“I…don’t know,” Leslie stammered out, her hands clinging to his back and racking her nails along the skin. Ben’s hips snapping as he gained momentum and grunted in pleasure. He lifted Leslie’s legs higher, hitting that spot that only she could usually find, earning a cry of sensitive gasps from Leslie.

Ben soon picked up speed as his own orgasm sparked inside of him. His mouth pressed against Leslie’s as he groaned and spilled inside of her. 

He was careful not to collapse on top of her and instead rolled immediately off and next to her, panting and wiping the sweat from his brow.

He inhaled deeply and took Leslie’s hand, lacing his fingers with hers. “Are you ok?” he asked.

“Better than ok.” Leslie responded, her eyelids drooping as a yawn overcame her.

“I think that’s the baby telling me to stop and go to sleep.” Leslie grinned as she rested her hand over the slight bump.

Ben placed his hand on top of hers. “Sleep sounds great.”

Neither of them bothered putting on their pyjamas, they just pulled the covers up over them. Ben sidled closer to her and Leslie pressed her back against his front, Ben immediately wrapped his arms around her waist, his fingers splayed across her belly protectively. 

“We love you, Ben,” Leslie whispered, as her eyes couldn’t stand to be open anymore and drooped to a close.

“I love you both too,” Ben murmured into her hair, inhaling the scent of her mango shampoo deeply and drifting off into his own comfortable sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week had passed since Tom found out. Leslie and Ben’s relationship was moving from strength to strength, and they had managed to keep the pregnancy a secret from everyone else.

After Marlene finding out, Ben soon realised that he had to tell his family too. He made several phone calls one evening to his mother, father, and siblings. Ben’s mother went from extremely happy to annoyed and then back to happy. She reprimanded him for not being careful and then realised that her son wasn’t actually an 18-year-old boy anymore. She then exclaimed that she should take up knitting to make presents for their child.

Ben’s dad was a little happier for his son, telling him that Wyatt men don’t have to wait until marriage to get their women pregnant. Ben nearly hung up the phone after that statement.

Considering Henry already knew, Ben called him up to let him know that everything was ok. He and Leslie were back together and things might just work out after all. Steph was happy for him, reminding him that he was the last to have children out of the three off them and how he took his sweet time finding someone he really cared about.

It had been a quiet day after that, and Ben felt pleasantly happy. Leslie however, was not.

She was in her office in the Parks Department, typing away at her computer and scowling angrily. Since she arrived at work this morning there had been an annoying tightness around her waist caused by her pants. They felt like they were trying to cut her in half and caused her a lot of discomfort.

She thought that it would be ok and she’d cope, but, as the day crept on, the tightness started to hurt. 

Leslie slipped her fingers around the waistband, trying to tug it away from her skin to allow her waist to breath when she heard it. A loud rip came from her front.

She gasped loudly and frantically looked down at the front of her pants. The zipper had given out and split, revealing her polka dot panties.

“Shit!” Leslie hissed as she quickly reached down, trying to yank the zipper back up, but it had completely broken; there was no way she could force it back up.

Her mouth dropped open in shock. She didn’t think her baby bump was that big, but her unborn child had clearly decided enough was enough, and it was time for Mommy to wear maternity clothes.

Leslie was stuck behind her desk. She couldn’t leave the department without probably walking into twenty people from City Hall who’d probably see her underwear and ripped pants. That wouldn’t look good considering she wanted these people to vote for her.

She could imagine the Pawnee Sun headline already: We See London, We See France, We See Leslie Knope’s Underpants.

Frantically she tried to wrack her brains to think of what to do. She drummed her fingers on her desk, hoping that a great idea would come to her. She considered taking the curtains off the window and making a pair of pants like Maria does in ‘The Sound of Music’. 

But she didn’t know how to sew. And her office had blinds, not curtains.

After ten minutes of desperately trying to think of a plan, she gave up; Leslie was not someone to give up this easily, but she needed help.

She picked up the phone and punched in Ben’s direct dial.

“Ben Wya-”

“Ben, I need you!” Leslie hissed down the receiver.

“Leslie? What’s going on? Is everything ok?” Ben’s voice replied, sounding a little panicked.

“Yes everything’s fine. Kind of. No, wait, everything is not fine; everything is going wrong. But not that kind of wrong, the baby’s fine. Maybe a little too fine,” Leslie babbled down the phone.

“Right. Okay, slow down, what happened?”

“Just get to my office now!” Leslie snapped, slamming the phone down. She didn’t care how Ben got here; she just needed him to get his perfectly sculptured ass down the hall and into her office pronto!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Your pants split?” Ben questioned after he had sprinted down the corridor to make sure the mother of his child was ok.

“Yeah,” Leslie groaned, a pillow placed over the split just in case anyone else walked in.

“And you didn’t want to wear maternity clothes?” Ben asked.

“I didn’t think I needed them,” Leslie admitted, “I’m only ten weeks pregnant. And my belly is pretty small still…but…I don’t know…don’t make me feel worse than I already do!”

“I’m not!” Ben quickly defended himself. “But what are we going to do? I could go to the store and get you some new pants, but I don’t know the first thing about what I’m looking for. 

Leslie paused and glanced out of the window. Ben was right; he couldn’t go by himself. He needed a woman’s opinion and knowledge. If only Ann was here, she’d trust her with anything and but she was at the hospital all day. She couldn’t call her out again to pin this down on another medical emergency.

Currently the only woman in the Parks Department at this current moment was the snippy, sarcastic April Ludgate-Dwyer.

“I have an idea,” Leslie told Ben, “But I don’t think you’ll like it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re pregnant with his baby?” April raised an eyebrow as Leslie explained the situation to her.

“Yeah,” Leslie nodded, Ben by her side.

“That’s gross.” April mumbled bluntly.

“Thanks,” Ben said as he rolled his eyes.

“But we need you to help us out, ok?” Leslie explained. “You need to go to Bloomington with Ben and pick me out some maternity pants, ok? You are a beautiful-”

“No.”

“-Wonderful, smart woman.”

“Stop.”

“And we need you to help Ben with this, ok?” Leslie finished. “And we also need you to keep this a secret from everyone. No one can know, not even Andy.”

April pursed her lips. “What’s in it for me?”

“Why does everyone keep asking that?” Ben snapped.

Leslie sighed. “You’ll get the rest of the day off.”

“Cool,” April shrugged. “Alright, I’ll do it.” 

And, with that, she left the office to get her stuff together. Leslie quickly scribbled on a post it note and handed it to Ben.

“Alright, here are my measurements. Get something that’s the maternity version of that, got it?” Leslie asked as Ben took the note and placed it in his pocket.

“I’ve got it. Are you sure you want April to help? I’m not sure if she’s going to be the best person to do this with,” Ben mumbled.

“Well, I would have asked Donna, but she’s not here,” Leslie sighed with a shrug. “Anyway, April can be useful…sometimes.”

Ben sighed as he walked towards the office door to get April. “Alright. Wish me luck.”

“Good luck!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben and April arrived in Bloomington an hour later after Leslie recruited April to help. They followed the directions to a nice looking maternity boutique and hurried inside.

“Alright, I’ve got Leslie’s measurements,” Ben said as he pulled the note out. “Let’s get in and out as fast as we – what are you doing?”

He had turned around to see April walking behind him with something shoved up her shirt, making her look like she was pregnant.

“I thought I’d look the part,” April said with a smirk.

Ben was in no mood to argue, so he just rolled his eyes and hurried towards the nearest clothes rail, flicking through the rows of smart trousers with elastic waistbands.

“I think these will do; they’re the right size. What do you think?” Ben asked as he pulled a pair of smart black trousers out, holding them up to April to see.

“They look like the kind of pants an elderly cat lady would wear.”

“I’m going to take that as your approval.” Ben replied as he dashed to the counter, April following closely behind him.

“Hello!” April greeted the cashier with a forced smile. “My name is Dahlia, and this is my sugar daddy Edgar. I’m pregnant with his child, and Edgar has a pants fetish, so he likes me wearing at least twenty different pairs a day, and if he doesn’t get what he wants, Daddy likes to spank me.”

The shop assistant gawped at the two, causing Ben to shove his hand into his pocket and pull his wallet out.

“W-would that be all for today?” the assistant asked cautiously.

“No, where do you keep your adult diapers?”

“YES! That’s all for today; thank you!” Ben quickly cut in, thrusting a handful of notes on the counter and snatching the bag away from the shop assistant to make a hasty getaway.

“Is your literal function on this earth to solely embarrass people?” Ben asked angrily as he slammed the car door shut, April joining him on the other side. “Because, congratulations, you did just that.”

“Thank you.” April replied with a proud smirk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leslie had been desk-bound for the past three hours, eagerly waiting for Ben to return with her new pants. Thankfully, the Parks Department had been fairly quiet today. But there was one member of staff who had noticed her strange behaviour.

Ron Swanson had been watching her for the entire day. He saw Leslie make a panicked phone call, and Ben entering the office two minutes later, then April was called in and she soon left with Ben in tow. 

Ever since then, Leslie had been sat at her desk all day, not moving at all. Usually, Leslie was buzzing around the department like a fly by garbage. But she hadn’t so much as twitched.

Ron had sensed that something had been different about her for a few weeks now. Her appearance had changed, and there was a subtle but noticeable glow around her. 

He was old and sharp enough to know what that meant.

With a grunt, he rose from his chair and walked into Leslie’s office. “Leslie, I need you to take some documents to sanitation for me. Can you do that?”

Leslie’s eyes widened. “S-sure, no problem.”

“I need you to go now. They documents are in my office.”

“Ok. Sure,” Leslie replied, her eyes still wide with anxiousness.

“So…up you get.”

“Give me a second. I’m swamped with work,” Leslie quickly said, pretending to type at her computer.

Ron sighed. “I know you aren’t busy with work. Because you haven’t done anything all day, you’ve just been sat at your desk.”

“I’ve been so busy with work I can’t leave my desk,” she retaliated.

“Look, something’s wrong. Why don’t you stand up and walk into my office, and I’ll get you a glass of Lagavulin, and I’ll get so drunk that you can talk about your…feelings.” Ron grimaced at the thought of having Leslie talk about her emotions.

“As amazing as that offer sounds, and I will be definitely take you up on that tomorrow. I am still really busy, so no thank you,” Leslie fumed angrily.

Ron growled angrily and grabbed Tom’s old chair and sat down in it. “Fine, then we will do it here. Are we going to talk about the fact that you are pregnant with Ben’s baby?”

Leslie flushed a deep shade of pink. “What? That, sir, is slander. You are accusing me of being pregnant? I’m…I’m a virgin! I have never had sex in my life! I don’t like sex and with Ben? I told you before he was terrible face-wise.”

“So are you?”

Leslie bit her lip and bowed her head in shame. “Yeah. I am. How did you find out?”

“I could smell it on you.”

“Ew! Ron!”

“I’m kidding. I just put two and two together,” Ron explained. “You never pass up a glass of Lagavulin. Plus, you’re glowing, and you look softer around the middle.”

Leslie sighed; ok, maybe she did need to get maternity clothes after all.

“I don’t want to know the details. But you are a smart girl, and Ben’s not stupid either, so you obviously have everything under control. But you will be concentrating on your campaign and your family. All of your Parks Department work will be passed on to April,” Ron ordered.

“But Ron-”

“No buts!” Ron said sternly. “You’ve got a family to think about now. And I know you. You broke up with Ben to run for City Council; you are not going to let a pregnancy get in the way of it either.”

He rose from the chair, not before hovering over Leslie for a few minutes and placing an awkward hand on her shoulder. “Take it easy, ok?”

Leslie wiped a few tears from her eyes and nodded. “I will. Thanks, Ron.”

But Ron was already long gone before he heard Leslie’s thanks.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What do you think?” Ben asked after he returned from Bloomington. He had helped Leslie slyly duck underneath her desk and change into the new pants he had bought her.

“They are great. Holy crap, maternity clothes are so comfortable! These feel like I’m wearing my pyjamas to work!” Leslie exclaimed as she ran her hands up and down the fabric.

“So, I did ok?” Ben asked, taking her hands in his. “You have no idea what kind of hell April put me through to get these.”

Leslie nodded vigorously. “I can only imagine, but, don’t worry, you did great.”

Ben leaned in and placed a warm kiss against her lips. They had nothing to look out for now; April had gone home, and the rest of the department were at a team building meeting with Chris. They were alone and could act like a couple for a few blissful minutes.

After they broke from their kiss to breathe, Leslie sighed. “People are starting to find out now. Tom knows, April and Ron know. It’s starting to get harder to hide this,” she mumbled as she rested a hand on her abdomen.

“We’ve got two weeks left,” Ben said sadly. “Then we have to tell Chris and your campaign team. I’m really sorry, but it’s just going to get harder after that.”

He rubbed her shoulder. “But, whatever is going to happen, whether I get fired or your campaign team quits, I’m going to be with you for the entire way, ok?”

Leslie nuzzled into his grasp. “I know, babe. And I really hope none of that happens.”

Ben kissed the top of her head, trying to ignore his heart beating five times too fast. “I know. Me too.”


	7. The Treaty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for being so patient while I tried to get this chapter together! I think I re-wrote it about eight times! 
> 
> A huge thank you goes to supervanillabear31 for beta-ing this and also for your lovely words when I got stuck!

It had just passed five AM when Leslie woke up. Her eyes flickered open and acknowledged the new amount of light in the room from the rising sun. 

She sighed into her pillow. It had been a while since she had woken up at this time; thanks to the baby growing inside her, she had a newfound love of sleeping in as much as she could, which was incredibly annoying.

But today, she was woken up by nerves. Because today was the start of her twelfth week of pregnancy. She couldn’t really hide it anymore. She was wearing maternity clothes, and even they couldn’t conceal the growing bump underneath the material. People would soon start guessing that she was pregnant, and she had to tell her campaign team, and Chris.

Leslie was dreading it so much. She and Ben had been in this tight knit pregnancy bubble, and it was great, much like their bubble when they first started dating. Only this particular bubble was filled with morning sickness, weird cravings, and getting up to pee five times a night.

At least she got back and foot rubs out of it.

Ben spent almost every night with her, sleeping in her bed and snuggled up next to her, snoring the world away. Ever since they told April, she had proved to be a good ally in their situation and helped cover Leslie as well as she could. She turned the attention on Jerry every time Leslie had to dart out of the room to be sick by throwing something at him and mocking him. She’d fill in on most of Leslie’s meetings, claiming that she was working on her campaign and even made up a fake story to tell Andy that Ben had joined a cult; that’s why he didn’t spend much time at theirs anymore, where he still rented. Ben didn’t like that part too much but it was something.

He had been so doting and perfect, and their relationship was so much stronger than before. Sex was amazing; they cuddled all the time when they were alone, and they loved each other. That was the main thing that had come out of all this, their amazingly intense love for each other.

But their perfect bubble was under threat, because soon they’d tell Chris all about their relationship and the baby, and their jobs would be at risk. Ben insisted that nothing would happen to Leslie, and that wouldn’t allow it. But that still didn’t stop the fear that circulated in Leslie’s body, reminding her that Ben was going to be in trouble, and that her campaign probably would be too.

No, definitely her campaign. No one would want to vote for an unmarried, fat, pregnant, whale woman. That was just against the laws of physics.

She wracked her brains, trying desperately to think of something that would save both her and Ben. There had to be a way where they’d both keep their jobs, and she’d win the City Council election. There just had to be.

But as she lay awake for another hour, her brain going into overdrive trying to think of something, she came up empty.

They had no other choice.

She was usually so good at trying to solve problems, but this was one tricky problem. Ben was lying next to her with his arms wrapped around her middle and sighing softly in his sleep. He was so perfect and had already done so much to help her during this pregnancy. She couldn’t ask for him to sacrifice his job for her too; that was too much. He deserved better than this.

Their alarm in the corner of the room sounded, startling Leslie so much her arm jerked back and elbowed Ben. He gave a groggy grunt and nuzzled into the pillow, peeling his eyelids back.

“Good morning,” he croaked out, his hand finding its way to her belly and giving it several delicate pats. He did this every morning he woke up next to her; it was almost like he wanted to make sure it was still there.

“Morning,” Leslie replied, turning over so she could face him. “Did you sleep good last night?”

Ben gave a groggy nod and rubbed his eyes. God, if this baby was anything like him she was done for. She’d never be able to resist squeezing his cheeks and smothering their baby with kisses if they woke up looking that adorable.

Leslie snuggled closer to him and placed her head on his chest. “I’m glad,” she mumbled, listening to his heart beat in soothing pumps.

There had to be _something_. But their morning was ticking on, and Ben was already getting out of bed to shower. There wasn’t anything they could do now other than tell Chris the truth.

And one of them would be jobless by the end of it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Or I could be South Korea, and you could be Bangladesh. We could form like a trans-Asiatic alliance?” Leslie suggested, a handful of colourful flags clamped in her hand.

“Yeah, I like it and I see the merits of it,” Ben mused. “I just worry if we’re both in Asia it might limit our scope.” He leaned forward to examine the flags while Leslie nodded in agreement. “I kind of want to roll up my sleeves and make geopolitical problem solving my bitch,” Ben said with a grin, causing Leslie to smile and blush too.

“Amen, brother. Let’s go back to plan A. I’ll be Denmark; you be Peru,” she said, handing Ben Peru’s flag as he pumped his fist into the air in celebration.

Plan A had definitely been decided two nights ago while they were naked in bed. Because nothing was sexier than spending a night with her secret boyfriend and baby daddy while talking about her upcoming hosting of the Model UN at Pawnee Central High School.

When Leslie was approached about the opportunity, she was immediately encouraged by her campaign team, who saw this as a great way to get photos of Leslie and put out a news article about how she cared about teaching school children about the importance of government.

She tried on several of her new maternity pantsuits in preparation to pick one that would hide her bump. Ben gave his assistance the best he could, but he was still concerned about Leslie overworking, so she asked him to join her to make sure that she didn’t work too hard or get too into it that she started screaming at high school students.

Ben leaned in towards her, his voice low enough to make sure that Donna or Andy weren’t listening. “I spoke to Chris this morning. He thinks something’s up with you. Jerry apparently came to him and was concerned about your health. He told him about you throwing up all the time.”

Leslie’s eyes popped out of her head. “Dammit, Jerry” she hissed bitterly. Why was he so nosy? Couldn’t he just stay out of their business for once? Was that too much to ask?

She swallowed hard; she tried to forget all about her worries, but everything from this morning came swimming back to her. She wanted to forget about it and bury herself into the Model UN. But that still didn’t hide the fact that she needed to tell her boss and campaign managers that she was pregnant.

And considering people were now starting to question her irrational behaviour meant that it had to come sooner rather than later.

Her eyes met Ben’s, and she pursed her lips. “I don’t think I’m ready,” she admitted. “I’m so scared. What’s going to happen to us?”

“I don’t know,” Ben replied. “But we have to think about telling Chris soon. I mean, you’re not going to be able to hide it for much longer.”

Leslie nodded sadly. It was true; her once flat stomach had now formed into a slight but rounded baby bump. She subtly rubbed her thumb against the bump and sighed.

“I know.” 

Ben checked over his shoulder and rubbed her hip, just fast enough for Leslie to feel but for no one else to notice. “It’ll be ok, whatever happens. I promise.”

Leslie swallowed again, desperately trying to keep the tears that were threatening to spill down her cheeks in her eyes. “Thanks. How about we can talk about this later? I need to get some more recruitments for the UN.” 

Ben nodded, giving her a sad smile before leaving the department. Leslie exhaled miserably. He was frightened, terrified even. Since they got back together, they had both tried to ignore what would happen to them, but they had no other choice. 

They had to face Chris’s stupid rule and accept their punishment.

But really, what had they done wrong? They fell in love and are now having a baby. There’s nothing wrong with the miracle of life, and she was fed up with feeling like she had done something terrible.

She grabbed more flags and walked over to April and Andy. “Andy, will you be Iceland?” she asked, waving the flag in front of his face.

“The bad guys from ‘Mighty Ducks 2?’” Andy scoffed with a roll of his eyes, “I don’t think so.”

Leslie sighed, she had no idea why she was asking Andy and April to help, both of them were bound to make everything difficult, but still, she needed numbers and she’d take anyone. “Okay, how about Japan?”

Andy scoffed again. “The bad guys from ‘Karate Kid 2?’ Even worse! How about Germany? They’ve never been the bad guys.”

Leslie was about to counter Andy’s statement when she heard a gasp behind her.

“Knope, have you seen this?” Leslie heard Donna’s voice squawk out urgently.

Leslie spun around to see Donna sat at her desk holding up a copy of ‘The Pawnee Sun.’ She frowned and approached the tabloid with cautious steps.

There it was. The front page was covered with a picture of her at the meet and greet session she did about a month ago. But the angle the picture had been taken at emphasised her bump, and made it incredibly obvious. Above it was the headline ‘Knoped Up.’

Leslie’s mouth dropped open in shock. She was rooted to her spot in horror as Andy got up and took the paper from Donna.

“What? They think you’re pregnant? That’s crazy, boss,” he chuckled, then paused as his eyes fell towards her stomach. Andy was that dim, but not dim enough to fail to notice Leslie’s rounded stomach.

April quickly jumped up and snatched the paper out of Andy’s hands and threw it to the side. “It’s a stupid tabloid, babe,” she told him sternly, and then jumped on him, pressing her lips against his to silence him before he could say anything.

Leslie went into autopilot. She sprinted out of the door and down the hall as fast as her legs could carry her.

Because if her friends had seen the article, then she was pretty sure her diligent campaign team would have too. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leslie hurried as fast as she could down the hallway; Elizabeth and William would be in meeting room B and would be prompt, as usual. And if they had seen the article then sure enough they probably would have gotten there a good hour early to discuss a game plan to counter the article, or to find out if she was in fact pregnant.

“It’s not true, it’s not-” Leslie cried out as she skidded into the meeting room to see Elizabeth and William sat at the table with copies of the Pawnee Sun in front of them.

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed as Leslie stood in front of her, slightly out of breath. “Really? Then why have we been receiving tip offs that you’ve have been caught at an obstetrician’s office with an unidentified male? The last time I checked women don’t just go to an obstetrician for no reason.”

“It’s not just the article, or those tip offs,” William joined in. “A couple of weeks ago we told you that people were concerned that you didn’t look healthy on Perd’s show. The pieces fit together. Are you pregnant, Leslie?”

Leslie swallowed hard, and tears pricked in the corner of her eyes. Oh, God; this was all happening so fast. She wished she could just freeze time and go and talk to Ben about this. He’d know what to do.

Instead, she just let out a defeated sigh, and a couple tears slid down her cheeks. “Yeah, it’s true. I’m pregnant,” she finally admitted.

And, just like that, it was done.

Elizabeth sucked her cheeks in and shot a glance over at William, who rubbed a hand over his forehead. “How long have you known?”

Leslie wanted to sit down. Her legs felt like lead, and she wasn’t sure how long she could stand before they gave way, but the way Elizabeth and William were glaring at her made her feel like she was on trial, so she decided to carry on standing. “About six weeks,” she admitted. “I’ve just hit my twelve week mark…I was going to tell you soon, but…I was just so scared, and I still really want to run for City Council. But I thought you might not want to represent someone in this position.”

She finally gave in and took a seat opposite them, her hands fisted in her lap and clenching nervously. “This is my dream, and being pregnant shouldn’t stop me. If anything it’s given me a bigger drive to win this, for me and my baby.”

Elizabeth sighed loudly. “Well, it’s not exactly ideal,” she started, “but you’re climbing in the polls still, despite the article. Before you came in, we were just saying that even if it was true you’re still in a good position. But what concerns me is that people will go back on their vote and change their mind once they find out that you’re unmarried and pregnant. I’m assuming this was a one-night stand? Do you even know who the father is?”

Leslie was taken aback; Elizabeth who usually gave off this friendly, calm demeanour was now glaring at Leslie like she had committed the worst crime possible. Sure, she was angry, Leslie could understand that; she had lied to her team. But, still, she needed their help, not their scolding. 

“I do know who the father is,” Leslie retaliated, “But…it’s complicated. We can’t really say because his job will be put on the line.”

“It’s someone at City Hall?” Elizabeth asked with a raised eyebrow.

Leslie silently nodded.

“We can work around it,” William then cut in. “We can release a press statement announcing your pregnancy, but spin it our way.”

He quickly started scribbling ideas on his notebook in front of him, Elizabeth looking over his shoulder and making agreeing humming noises. Leslie desperately tried to crane her neck to see what they were writing, but William had insanely dainty handwriting that was so small she couldn’t read anything.

“Alright,” William finally said after what felt like an eternity. “We have a plan. Tomorrow we will put out that there will be a press conference for you to make an announcement. There you will confirm the rumours that you are indeed pregnant. However, you are so because three months ago you went to the doctors with painful stomach cramps, and they confirmed that your ovaries aren’t working as they should be, and must be removed. Giving you an ultimatum to get pregnant by a sperm donor as a last Hail Mary to having kids, which is of course your life long dream. Then you can go on to say that due to the complications and risks of artificial insemination, you couldn’t say anything until you hit the twelve week mark, which coincidently you have just reached.”

Leslie blinked, taking in the onslaught of information. It was all a huge lie, and not at all how she wanted to announce that she was pregnant. She wanted to do it with Ben by her side, and ideally with no risks of anyone losing their job. But this… this was corrupt, fake and completely cut Ben out of the equation altogether.

“But…that’s not true,” Leslie finally stammered out.

“It’s better than saying you got knocked up because you weren’t careful,” Elizabeth snapped. “This way is failsafe. That way we can also play the sympathy vote. Not only will that gain a lot of ground and respect from the voters, it also protects you from any bad press. No one can be mad at someone who just wants to fulfil a life long dream before her ovaries are removed.”

“What?” Leslie gasped out. “And how am I supposed to cover this up? Once I have my baby, I then have to carry on with the lie that my ovaries have been removed? What if I get pregnant again in the future?”

“Right now this is our best option,” William tried to explain. “Maybe in a few years people would have forgotten, or you would have moved on to bigger and better things. This way it also cuts out the messy baby daddy situation.”

“There is no messy situation,” Leslie hissed. “In fact, he wants nothing more but to be there for the baby.” She was furious; she could feel her whole body trembling in rage as she spoke. They didn’t want Ben to have anything to do with her; they just wanted to use her baby as a sympathy exploit for votes. No, that wasn’t how she wanted to run this campaign.

“You have two choices here,” Elizabeth finally said, bringing Leslie out of her thoughts. “You either take our option and go ahead with the statement, or we quit, and you can take care of it yourself. We are your political advisors after all, and we’ve given you our advice. Whether you take it or leave it is up to you. But you should be warned if you take the latter option, that would mean potentially losing the campaign, and also causing you are the father of the baby to lose your jobs after the affair comes to light.”

Leslie was silent; annoyingly Elizabeth was right. If she decided ignore her campaign advisors they would quit and move on, leaving Leslie with the prospect of getting her and Ben fired, and also no shot at City Council. But the other option, it was dishonest, and everything she was against.

But it could save her and Ben’s career. And that was surely worth the lie.

She took a deep breath. “Alright. Announce the press conference.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Elizabeth and William worked quickly after Leslie had left. Soon, on every talk show and online article, they were talking about what City Council Candidate Leslie Knope could possibly be announcing after The Pawnee Sun posted rumours about her pregnancy.

She walked down the halls of Pawnee Central, her insides knotting together and her heart thumping. She couldn’t think about that now, because today was going to be about the kids that she was trying to help.

Plus, she really loved Model UN. She wasn’t a recognised UN icon for nothing after all.

“Leslie!”

She turned around to see Ben behind her, running slightly to catch up. “Are you ok? I heard the news about you calling for a press conference tomorrow. What’s happening?”

Oh God.

Leslie’s eyes grew wide, and she spied an empty classroom just across the hall. “Yeah...Can I talk to you about that?” 

Before Ben could respond, Leslie had already dragged him into the classroom and was pacing a little frantically.

“Ok…ok, before I tell you about this I need you to know that this has come about because it’s the best possible way that we can carry on with our jobs and you’ll be safe and Chris never has to find out” she began, her hands trembling as she spoke.

Ben’s eyes narrowed. “Leslie, what’s going on?”

Leslie took a deep breath. “My campaign advisors know about the baby. There was an article in The Pawnee Sun about me and…you can see my belly… They know. They pulled it out of me. But I told them…and they still want to run my campaign, on the grounds that I take their advice and tell the press tomorrow that…” she swallowed nervously, “that this baby was conceived by artificial insemination, and was done so because I found out that this might be the last chance to have a child. This means that no one has to know that you are the father, and we can still carry on with our careers and City Council. Isn’t that great?”

The last part of the sentence was so unbelievably forced that Leslie wasn’t sure that it came out of her mouth. Because it wasn’t great.

It was terrible.

And the way Ben was now looking at her made her regret the whole situation. 

“You’re joking, right?” Ben asked with sternness to his voice. “This is just one big joke, right?”

Leslie shook her head. “Everything’s being finalised now.”

Ben glared at her. Leslie was sure that she had never seen him so angry before. But his eyes were clouded with rage, and he was taking short breaths. He was pissed.

“So what about me then? Am I just cut out from our baby’s life now? Because I can’t come forward and say that I was the sperm donor and then conveniently start a relationship with you. They’ll know and that could lead you to being recalled or worse. Leslie, you’ve taken the completely wrong way about this. How could you do this to me? To _us_?”

“I thought it was for the best” she tried to explain. But Ben shook his head angrily.

But Ben shook his head angrily. “I told you that I was in this for the long run. I want to be there for everything, but this… You’ve basically just made a decision for me. And you’re so blind you can’t even see that they are using our baby for a sympathy ploy. It’s insane! We’re talking about a living, breathing thing here, not a inanimate object,” Ben continued, his voice rising slightly.

“I thought it was for the best,” Leslie cried out again. She was starting to feel hurt that Ben would be so cruel. “I thought you’d understand.”

“We decided as a team to tell Chris the truth and deal with the consequences. But you’re trying to have everything at once. But you can’t, Leslie. It’s not possible. You want to have the campaign, me and the baby. But it’s not possible right now, so I need you to have a long think about what’s more important. Me or your career. Because I think I know the answer already,” Ben hissed as he stormed out of the classroom and towards the hall.

Leslie emotions were riding on an all time high. She wanted to cry, to throw things, to scream all at once. She had done what she thought would be the best for all of them, but Ben just basically accused her of ignoring him and running without him. And she couldn’t take that, not today.

She clenched her fists. Oh, she could totally see Denmark declaring war on Peru later. She quickly wiped the wetness from her eyes and smoothed her hair back down as she stepped out of the classroom, into a group of high school kids, who looked at her with shocked expressions.

“Excuse me, are you Leslie Knope?” a blonde girl bubbled excitedly “What am I talking about? Of course you are.”

Leslie smiled happily at the girl, who she recognised as Cassidy, the ambassador for this UN. She had a cute beret on and wore the French flag on her tag around her neck.

“Bonjour, Madame Ambassador,” she said with the best French accent she could muster.

It was time to make as many friends as possible so she could wipe the floor with Peru once this was over with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ok, wait a minute I think I have it,” Leslie announced as she waved her pen around excitedly. “What if we drop interest rates? Would that help you?”

So far, Leslie and Ben had been civil to each other, partly because they didn’t want to drag a load of high schoolers into their pregnancy issue. But also because they just really fucking loved Model UN and had gotten so into it that their baby drama could wait.

“Maybe, but what if Brazil and Argentina use their oil deposits as collateral?” Ben countered, earning a glowing smile from Cassidy.

“Ooh that’s really good,” Cassidy said, jotting it down on her notepad.

Leslie was so close to making a statement about how Cassidy was under-reacting about Ben’s genius strategy move, but then she remembered that she was mad at him. Besides, she was only organising this treaty with Peru because it made so much more sense to work with them rather than against them.

Stupid Model UN making them work together. Why did she love this so much not to jeopardise it?

It was at that moment when Leslie looked up and her eyes met Ben’s. Although he still looked angry at her, there was a slight softness in his eyes that Leslie couldn’t figure out whether it was because they were working together or because they were around kids.

“Hi, Leslie, are you ready?”

She jolted slightly and looked up to see William standing behind Ben. He broke his gaze from Leslie and looked over his shoulder at William and frowned.

“They want me to do a photo op for the campaign so I can bolster my education credentials,” Leslie explained to Ben, hesitating slightly as Ben glared at her. She had completely forgotten about this after the shock of her meeting with her campaign managers that they wanted to have some pictures of her at the Model UN. 

“How long is it going to take?” Ben asked, placing his hands on his hips.

“I don’t know,” she replied, “Can you just tread water until I’m ready?”

Ben scowled at her. “Oh, yeah, sure I’ll just tread water and let you make all the decisions.”

Leslie frowned “Please don’t do this here, I won’t be long.”

Ben just rolled his eyes and turned back to the group.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It took about twenty minutes to get the photos. Leslie posed with students who were acting as Lithuania and Sweden, while her campaign team puttered around her, making sure her blazer covered her bump well enough and that her hair was just right. 

As she walked back to her place to catch up with her treaty, she could see Ben laughing with the students. She couldn’t help but grin as she re-joined the group.

“I’m back! Or as they say in Denmark, I’m back…most people speak English,” she said, and to her disappointment no one really seemed to notice her return. She cleared her throat and continued. “So, are you guys ready to polish off this treat?”

Ben looked up. “Oh, actually I merged our treat with Russia and China’s treaty,” he explained.

Leslie paused as the news sunk in. “I got cut out of my own treaty?” she whispered.

“Yeah,” Ben said matter-of-factly. “I got tired of treading water, so I swam over to Asia and made a deal. So unfortunately you have been cut out. Apparently it happens quite a lot.”

Leslie was horrified. He was using their real problem against her in what was meant to be a fun and pretend game. She took a deep breath and tried to keep her composure.

“The nation of Denmark would like to formerly request a summit with the nation of Peru,” Leslie managed to choke out, her voice breaking slightly.

Ben sighed as he got up and followed her over to the snack table, dragging his feet slightly as he moved. Leslie turned to face him, tears now brimming in her eyes as she spoke.

“How dare you? How could you bring our situation into this? I thought we were getting on just fine-”

“Well we _aren’t_ getting on. You decided that when you decided to cut me out of our child’s life,” Ben chided, folding his arms.

“I told you that I didn’t mean to, but it’s done now,” Leslie snapped. “The best we can do is just…cope with it until the campaign is over.”

“Of course, the campaign.” Ben rolled his eyes. “The precious fucking campaign that’s so important that you can’t even concentrate on how this is going to affect the baby when it comes out.”

Leslie’s eyes widened in shock. “Fuck you,” was the only thing that could only come out of her mouth, and she pushed past Ben, grabbed her bag and left the school hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Thank you all for coming,” Leslie announced as she stood in front of the podium. A huge crowd of photographers and reporters gathered in front of her as she made her announcement. The Parks Department were all there too for support, and to her dismay, Ben and Chris.

“There has been a lot of speculation as to whether I am indeed pregnant or not,” she began “And the truth is, I am pregnant.”

There was a frantic uproar of clicking cameras, and the scribbling of pens on paper as she continued.

“Despite this, I will still continue my campaign for City Council and will work hard to ensure that your votes most definitely count. This baby is a blessing and has come to me in a hard point in my life where I thought I would never be able to have children. And once I have the pleasure of meeting this beautiful baby, I will make sure to tell it all about the hopeful success that this campaign will bring. I hope that you will respect my privacy during this time. However, I will be more than happy to answer any question regarding the matter in the time we have together today.”

She watched Ben’s face fall and flush in anger as the reporters started calling for her attention, and then proceeded to storm out of the room. 

Leslie watched him leave and bowed her head in shame. She signalled for William to continue with answering the questions while she stood to the side to compose herself.

She rested a hand on her slightly protruding belly and could see the flashes of cameras from the corners of her eyes. She was probably giving them a great photo opportunity right now, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to feel her tiny baby in her belly and try to piece together the huge mess that she had gotten herself into.

And she just hoped that Ben wouldn’t be too mad at her after all this, She still so desperately wanted him in her and the baby’s lives.


	8. Smallest Park

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for the comments and kudos so far! I'm so glad that you are enjoying this story! 
> 
> A huge thank you goes to my amazing beta - supervanillabear31 - for looking over this for me! You're amazing!

Leslie drummed her fingers anxiously on the side of the examining table. The other hand placed on top of her baby bump, slowly drawing her hand up along her swollen belly. She stared up at the ceiling, and her thoughts travelled, recounting the whole messy situation she was in.

The papers came out the morning after the press conference with pictures of her on the front cover. ‘Knope announces pregnancy,’ ‘Knope Knocked up’…the headlines were all fairly similar, each story announcing that Leslie would still be running despite her pregnancy. But each story reporting that they did not know who the father was.

“We really must be starting,” Dr Saperstein said kindly to her, bringing Leslie out of her thoughts.

“No. He will be here. Just give me five more minutes” Leslie quickly cut in, sitting up a little.

Dr Saperstein gave her a sad smile. “I understand this is important for the both of you, but I have other patients waiting for appointments – ”

The sound of the door opening caused the two to look up, and Leslie exhaled a breath she didn’t know she had been holding as Ben walked in. 

“Sorry I’m late,” he mumbled. But didn’t look at Leslie.

“Ah, Dad’s here! Now we can get started,” Dr Saperstein said as he turned to face the computer screen. Leslie rolled her shirt up and looked over anxiously at Ben.

“Thanks for coming,” she whispered to him, her free hand edging towards Ben, but his hands remained in his pockets.

“It’s fine,” Ben muttered, still not looking at her.

Leslie gnawed at her lower lip. Ben hadn’t spoken to her properly since her press conference four days ago. She passed him all the time at City Hall, and Ben would walk right past her, pretending she wasn’t even there. 

Leslie knew that this was her fault, and she needed to make it right. But right now she was just relieved that Ben managed to push past his anger with her to attend their next doctor’s appointment. She knew that she would be having another scan, and she wanted Ben to be there, to see their baby again.

Dr Saperstein squirted the cool gel on her belly and began the ultrasound. His hums of concentration were the only sound filling the room. 

As he worked to find a clear image of their baby, Leslie could see Ben staring intently at her belly, like he was just aching to reach out and touch it. There had been no physical contact between the two for four days, and she could tell that Ben missed being so close to the baby. Since they got back together, he would keep his hand on her belly most of the time when he could just to feel close to the baby. 

Leslie’s thought paused. Together. Were they even still together? She had no idea anymore. Things were complicated and spiralling too far out of control for her to handle.

“There’s the heartbeat,” Dr Saperstein announced as the melodic thumping filled the room once more. “Sounds all good to me still. You’re cooking this baby well, Mommy.”

It was moments like this where she would look at Ben, his eyes on her, almost like they were having a telepathic conversation about Dr Saperstein’s strange comments, and how their baby’s heartbeat sounded so strong and perfect. But Leslie couldn’t bring herself to look over at Ben. He hated her; he was only there for the baby.

“Here we go,” Dr Saperstein said as he turned the screen to face them. “Here’s your baby. It’s looking good and growing well. Fun fact, it’s around about the size of a plum!”

Leslie felt tears forming in the corner of her eyes. There it was, her healthy baby. She could see a head and a body, and a cute little nose, and she never thought that she would ever be happier seeing their beautiful baby growing so well.

Without thinking, her hand shot out to meet Ben’s, but…nothing. His hands were still in his pocket. She looked up at his face and saw Ben staring at the screen, his face expressionless, but there were tears glassing over his dark brown eyes.

Leslie felt hurt. Hurt for her relationship, hurt for the baby’s life that was currently being used as a scheme to get votes in her City Council campaign, hurt for Ben, as he still couldn’t be the proud father that he so badly wanted to be.

She turned back to the screen, looking back to the baby. Her sweet baby. She didn’t want to fail it before it was even born. There needed to be a plan, a better plan then what they had now.

Because she hated the fact that she just got Ben back, only for their relationship to be in jeopardy once more.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking around City Hall whilst being pregnant was strange.

People held doors open for her, women were asking her about her experiences so far with it, and telling her that when the baby starts kicking it’s truly magical. Everyone seemed to want to be involved with her pregnancy and know all the ins and outs. 

But there was just one person that she wanted involved.

She walked into Chris’s office after he called her up there; she had hoped that Ben might’ve made himself scarce during it. But, no, he was sat in one of the chairs facing Chris’s desk, looking solemn.

“Leslie Knope!” Chris greeted excitedly, getting up from his chair and hurrying over to her, pulling her into a tight hug. “I never got the chance to congratulate you after the announcement. So, congratulations!”

“Thanks, Chris” Leslie said, putting on her best fake smile.

“I had no idea. When Jerry Gergich came to me a few days ago and told me he was worried about your health. It never crossed my mind that you might be expecting,” Chris continued. “And I am incredibly excited for you. Are you taking folic acid? You know that’s very good for the baby, right?”

“I am,” Leslie cut in, “You don’t have to worry. I’m taking all of my vitamins and even trying to eat vegetables.”

She was hoping that statement would make Ben turn around. It didn’t.

“I was _literally_ just talking to Ben about how excited I am for you. We’re both excited! Isn’t that right, Ben?”

Ben turned at the sound of his name. “Oh. Yeah. Real excited,” he grunted, and went back to looking at his phone.

Chris offered her the seat next to Ben, and she cautiously lowered herself into it, expecting Ben to shoot up and move as far away from her as possible.

But he didn’t. He stayed put, but still didn’t look at her.

Chris walked back around to his side of the desk and sat down, clasping his hands together. “I have been talking to Ron Swanson, and I understand that your last project within the Parks Department before going on leave to concentrate on your campaign is the park project where the old telephone booths used to be?”

Leslie nodded “It’s going to be Pawnee’s newest tourist attraction, I’m calling it ‘The Smallest Park in Indiana.’”

“And how big is the park exactly?” Chris asked.

“It’s .000003 square miles,” Leslie said, with a slight smile.

“Wow. Tiny,” Chris said as he turned to Ben. “Will we have to do an environmental impact report?”

Ben shook his head. “Nope. We can get out of that because of the size.”

“Excellent. Regardless, Ben, I want you to finalise this project with Leslie and give her a hand finishing it up,” Chris said with a cheerful smile, causing Ben to gape at him.

“Oh? W-well it’s so small I thought that she’d be able to close it up by herself,” he mumbled.

Leslie’s heart plummeted.

“Nonsense! Despite the size of the park, I still want someone to accompany her, and no one would be better at it than you. Because when you two get together you are a dynamic duo,” Chris announced, clapping Ben on the shoulder.

And for the first time in days, Ben looked over at Leslie, their eyes locking. And she saw no emotion in his dark brown eyes. 

Nothing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thirteen weeks. 

She couldn’t quite believe that she was now thirteen weeks pregnant. She had officially popped and now had no chance of hiding her expanding belly. According to the books she had read, she should start to feel movement soon, and she was eager to feel the baby kick. But right now, there was nothing, not a single squirm.

Leslie walked into Ben’s office. Ever since Chris put them together to close up the smallest park project, she had taken to booking as many meetings as possible with him. It was a ploy to keep them hanging out and literally forcing him to talk to her.

She tried several times to tell him that she missed him, but he always cut her off, reminding her that they were at work and had business to attend to.

The park was opening tonight. She had tried to extend it by getting the citizens of Pawnee riled up and angry about the possibility of a small park so close to their homes. But everyone was more than happy with the idea of a small park.

Typical. The one time she needed them to kick up a stink over nothing and they come up empty.

He wasn’t there when she walked in, so she took a seat down at his desk and awaited his return. Her hand flocked to her belly, delicately rubbing the mound, trying to coax her little plum to move.

“Come on, little one,” she whispered to her belly. “Just a little wiggle for Mama?”

Nothing. 

Leslie sighed and leaned back in the chair, stroking her belly with her thumb. 

“Alright. You’re mad at me too, huh? Look, kid, I’m trying to figure this out. I’m really trying to,” Leslie muttered to her belly. “It’s hard…I’ve got myself into a hole, and I have to find my way out. But all I want is you to be happy. You know that, right? And I know Daddy’s mad at me right now but…it won’t be forever. Promise. And even if he doesn’t want to be with me anymore, he’ll still love you so much. We both do, even if it doesn’t feel like it right now-”

“Leslie?”

She jumped at the sound of her name and spun round. Ben was standing in the doorway and frowning at her. 

“Oh! Hey!” Leslie stammered, lowering her hand from her belly and praying that Ben hadn’t just been listening to the conversation she was having with her stomach.

“Hey. What are you doing here?” he asked as he sat down at the desk.

“I have about nine things to talk to you about. First is the ribbon cutting ceremony. Do you know who’s bringing scissors? Because I cannot tell you have many ceremonies get derailed when people don’t bring scissors,” Leslie started, looking down at the notes she brought with her.

“I don’t know the answer to that, but I’m actually glad you’re here” Ben said, wringing his hands together anxiously.

“Oh yeah?” Leslie questioned, a smile spreading on her face eagerly.

“Yeah…After this project finishes, I’m going to focus my time on other departments and cut down my time with Parks and Rec,” Ben explained, wincing slightly, as if he expected Leslie to start throwing things.

She nearly did. About thirty emotions bubbled inside her as she took in Ben’s words. He was going to limit his time with her, because of what she did; he wouldn’t even spend time with her during work hours.

“W-What? Why?” Leslie asked, trying to push her tears back.

“Well…It’s a little hard being around you with your campaign and stuff. It bums me out thinking that I don’t really have a part in this baby’s life anymore and…I don’t know, seeing you growing just kills me. So I’m making the decision now to cut myself completely out of the equation. You can carry on with your campaign and the lies. I’ll pay child support…whatever…and we can just carry on with our lives,” Ben said with a sigh.

A lump formed in Leslie’s mouth and she swallowed. “No. That’s not okay, Ben. I told you we’d work this out. We’re still working out the kinks.”

“Leslie, your campaign team told everyone that you’re pregnant by a sperm donor. You can’t bounce back from this. It’s over between us. I’m sorry,” Ben said sternly.

Leslie angrily stood up. “So that’s it? Your breaking up with me, and you want nothing to do with the baby? I don’t get a say in any of this?”

“Oh, you had plenty to say when you agreed to this farcical plan,” Ben snapped. “You’re a steamroller, Leslie. And you cut me out without me wanting to go. But you decided it would be best for your precious fucking campaign. So I’m taking myself out too.”

Leslie didn’t know what to say, instead a hand jerked forward, and she snatched all the pens and pencils from the holder on his desk and stormed out, ignoring his calls about bringing them back.

She hurried down the hall as fast as her legs would carry her and stormed into Ann’s office. Thankfully, her best friend was working today, and was surprised to see Leslie hurry in.

“Leslie? What’s going-”

“He hates me, Ann,” she sobbed, letting the tears fall freely as she collapsed into Ann’s open arms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What did I tell you? I told you that if you acted like a jerkface AKA like Dad then I would come to Indiana and kick you in the balls. Did I or did I not say that? Well guess what, buddy? You’re going to have to explain to my wife and daughter why I’m going to miss bath time tonight because I am booking a ticket to come all the way over and find you. Get ready for some serious ball-kicking,” Henry snapped over the phone, causing Ben to hold it a good few feet from his head.

“Alright. I get the point,” Ben moaned rubbing his forehead.

“No. I don’t think you do. Because that woman is carrying your baby, and you’re on the phone to me acting like a whiny little bitch because Leslie fucked up a little bit. Okay, yeah, sure, the situation is sucky, but she’s fucking pregnant! Her brain’s going to be a little all over the place. But you deal with it,” Henry growled at his brother.

“She’s the one in the wrong here,” Ben tried to argue back, but Henry was having none of it.

“Yeah, she was talked into doing something that she didn’t want to do. You should be taking this out on her campaign managers, not on her,” Henry said, sighing exasperatedly. 

Ben swallowed. He hadn’t thought of that part. That this was all the campaign managers doing, and had probably fed Leslie lies and bullshit to get her to agree. This wasn’t like her; she wasn’t the type to be some crooked politician who lied to get to places. She was too good for that.

But it was still done. She couldn’t go back now. If she did, then she’d lose all respect from the voters, and that would hurt her campaign even more so than it would have if the relationship scandal came out.

It was easier just to let it go. It was a nice dream that seemed great at the time, but getting back together with Leslie was a mistake.

“Ben…buddy, are you still there?”

Ben pressed the phone back up to his ear. “Yeah, I’m still here.”

He heard Henry sigh down the other end. “Look…it’s a shitty situation, but don’t throw it away. This is a lot bigger than the two of you. This is about a baby. Someone who’s going to grow up and look up to the two of you. So…man up, and do the right thing. Stepping out of the baby’s life isn’t going to solve anything, even though it seems like the right thing to do right now.”

Ben inhaled as he took in Henry’s words. “When did you get so philosophical?”

“I haven’t slept in four days.”

“Right. Well, maybe you should get some sleep instead of shouting at me over the phone?” Ben suggested.

“I’m shouting at you because you’re being a dick. And because I love you,” Henry mumbled. “But seriously. I’m going to go now, but please promise me you’re going to try and fix things?”

Ben sighed. “I promise.”

He bid Henry farewell and hung up his phone, setting it back down on the desk and placed his hands over his face. This whole situation was a mess; he never thought he’d be bringing a child into the world like this. It was far too stressful, the election, the baby…Ben always thought that when he had kids it would happen at least when he was married, and in a stable job. Now a child was conceived, and there was a potential chance of him losing his job if he admitted he was the father.

Ben was so wrapped up in thoughts he didn’t hear Ann step into his office. She stood in front of her desk and cleared her throat, causing Ben to look up at her.

“Is this health department business or Leslie business?” Ben asked, lowering his hands.

“You need to talk to her,” Ann told him.

Ben sighed again, rubbing his forehead. “Look, if you are here to shout at me I’m really not in the mood so can you just-”

“I’m not here to shout at you,” Ann said calmly, pulling a seat round by his desk and sitting opposite Ben. “Leslie’s my best friend, but obviously I want to make sure you’re ok too.”

Ben scowled a little, but nodded for her to continue.

“I’m mad at the situation too,” Ann started. “But you need to understand that to keep her campaign managers for quitting, she had to agree to what their terms. They spun this to make it work for the campaign. And it’s sucky, and I don’t agree with it at all…but this isn’t her fault. So please don’t take it out on her or the baby. You know what she’s like; she’s strong-willed and difficult and once she gets and idea in her head she thinks it’s right. But this isn’t her thinking straight.”

“She’s literally been forcing me to spend time with her,” Ben argued back. “I’m sick of it. I’ve been through hell this past week because of this stupid campaign. We decided we were going to tell Chris and deal with the consequences.”

“But she panicked,” Ann cut in. “She wanted to try and save your job and keep the campaign going. But she knows now that there will be sacrifices.”

Ann leaned in a little on the desk, and Ben could see the side of Ann that was usually reserved for patients or Leslie, kind, nurturing Ann. The Ann that comforted Leslie when she thought he wasn’t going to come back, the Ann who was so gentle and would make a great aunt to the baby.

“I’ve spoken to her. I told her that she does come across a little…steamroller-ish. She understands that she’s in the wrong by agreeing to this. She should have told those stupid campaign managers to stick it when they came up with that plan. But, at the same time, you should have stood by her and not shot off like that. You would have helped her see sense. You’ve got a smart brain somewhere in amongst that brown mop of yours.”

Ben couldn’t help but snicker at that. Ann was pretty cool, he thought as she gave him a soft smile.

“She’s ready to listen,” she told him as she stood up. “I’ve said my piece, it’s up to you now.”

Ann then walked out of the room, leaving Ben in silence again, taking in all of Ann’s words of wisdom. 

A couple of hours must have passed while Ben was thinking, and his phone buzzed with a new voicemail. He pressed it to his ear, assuming it was Henry, but was met with Leslie’s quiet voice.

_‘Hi, Ben. I know we didn’t really leave on good terms earlier but… I want to talk about this with you…for the baby’s sake. Can you meet me at the smallest park later? It is our project after all, and you should see it…I’ll be there at 7:30, so I’ll see you there? I mean, only if you want to go. I’m not forcing you or anything…but…it would be good to see you.’_

The beep signalled the end of the message, and Ben glanced at the clock on the side. 6:30. The office day ended an hour ago, but he had been so wrapped up in thoughts that he got distracted. 

He took a deep breath and started collecting his things. He’d go and sit in the car, and think long and hard about what he wanted to come out of this conversation with.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was cold. Leslie was wrapped up in several layers, but her red coat still didn’t keep out the chilly November air. She shivered and pulled the collar up around her, and tightened the coat around her belly, trying to make sure the baby stayed warm and snug.

The park turned out magnificently. There was a cute fountain, beautiful pink roses in a hedge, a bench with an intricate pattern on it that she was currently sitting on, and a streetlight hanging over her.

She couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness as she looked around her. This was her last project in the Parks Department before officially handing over to April; she had expected fireworks, a going away party and several people begging her not to go. Instead, she got an argument with Ben.

Would he come? She really hoped he would. After crying to Ann for about an hour she talked it through with Leslie, and told her the hard cold truth. She could either have Ben and the baby, and risk the campaign going up in smoke, or lose Ben and keep the baby and the campaign, but live a lie for the rest of her life. 

Ann then promised her that she was going to talk to Ben, but to accept the fact that she can’t carry on deciding things without him. They had agreed to be a team when they found out about the baby, but she was still treating this as a one-woman band. 

The baby needed a mommy and a daddy that loved it, not a mommy and daddy that lied and argued.

She glanced at her watch. 7:34. She was sure he wasn’t going to come. He was four minutes late, and her mind started reeling. Wondering if he had given up and refused to see her or the baby again, wondering if Ann failed to convince him to come, when she saw him.

Ben walking slowly towards her, his hands stuffed in his pockets and his head down. Leslie breathed a sigh of relief as he stepped onto the green grass of the smallest park.

“I wasn’t sure if you were going to come,” Leslie admitted as she stood up from the bench.

“Well, I got very curious when you only left me one voicemail message instead of your usual twenty,” Ben mumbled, looking at her.

“I’m trying to be less intense, and a little more considerate,” Leslie explained.

She gestured back to the bench, as she sat back down. “Here, have a seat…if you want to?”

“I want to,” Ben said, as he sat next to her. He noticed Leslie shiver slightly, and run her hands on her thighs to gather warmth. He automatically shrugged off his navy coat and draped it around her shoulders.

“I’m fine,” Leslie insisted, as she tried to shake out of it.

“You’re not. You’re cold. I’m annoyed at you but I still care about your health,” Ben explained with a slightly sigh.

Leslie couldn’t help but smile at that, as she pulled the coat around her. “I’m sorry about everything” she started. “I never listened to you, and when that newspaper article came out with that picture of me…I panicked, and I let my campaign team talk me into doing all that crap. It wasn’t fair on you, and I’m sorry.”

“Thank you,” Ben said, looking over at her, desperately trying to cling on to any warmth he could find and not look cold in front of her. “I appreciate that. And I’m sorry too, for yelling at you and being a huge dick. I heard you talking to the baby earlier…”

“Oh. I was hoping you didn’t hear that,” Leslie mumbled anxiously.

“Well…the baby isn’t mad at you. And I’m not either, I’m just…frustrated by everything,” Ben explained, and Leslie shifted a little in her seat.

“If you really don’t want anything more to do with me or the baby then…I understand that, and you have my blessing to leave,” Leslie then said with a sharp intake of breath, like she was trying to stop herself from crying.

Ben felt his heart burn miserably. “I don’t want that, Leslie. But you’ve told everyone that you’re having a baby on your own. It’ll hurt your campaign if I then come along. But…maybe it’s for the best?”

Leslie swallowed a lump forming in her throat. No steamrolling, she told herself; let him make the choice.

“Okay,” she whispered, peeling off Ben’s coat and handing it back to him. 

Ben took it with a quiet “thank you,” pulling it back on and standing up from the bench. He took five steps away from Leslie when she suddenly felt the urge to scream and shout, to tell him to stop, that’s she’d do anything to have him in her life.

She couldn’t let him go.

“There is another option,” she called out to him, causing Ben to pause and turn around. “We could just say ‘screw it’ and do this thing for real?”

Ben narrowed his eyes. “What?”

“I can’t do this without you,” Leslie said, tears sparkling in her eyes. “I miss you like crazy. I think about you all the time. I just want to be with you, and raise this baby with you. Like we decided weeks ago. And I don’t care if that hurts my campaign, but I’ll come out and say that it was a lie and that I wasn’t thinking straight.”

Ben looked down at his feet, processing the information. “We’d…We’d have to tell Chris, there most definitely will be a scandal, an even bigger one than we imagined. It’ll hurt your campaign…I mean, how would you imagine we do this?”

Leslie nodded as she considered all the terrible option that were coming her way. “I know. But this is what I want. I need you, Ben. _We_ need you. So this is how I feel. How do you feel?”

She winced slightly, as if she was expecting Ben to ignore everything she had just said and turned on his heel, walking away once more.

But he didn’t. 

There was a darkening in Ben’s eyes, and, suddenly his features became more prominent as he strode back towards her, an arm pulling her towards him and their lips finally connecting once again, after weeks of being apart.

His hand curled around the back of her head, cradling her and supporting her as Leslie felt her legs buckle slightly.

He wasn’t going anywhere.

A sob escaped her lips as they continued kissing, and Ben moved away from her mouth, kissing her nose, neck, cheeks, anywhere he could find.

“I’m so sorry, Leslie,” he whispered, as Leslie began crying against him. “I’m not leaving you, either of you, never again. Promise.”

That statement made Leslie cry even harder, and Ben’s hands moved around her back, keeping her steady and safe in his arms. Tears stung the corners of his eyes as his beautiful Leslie cried in relief for them both.

He regretted shouting at her, being a dick to her at the Model UN. He wanted to take back these last two weeks and redo them. He’d stand by her. He’d tell her campaign managers to stick it and their stupid plan. He’d hold her hand when they finally went to tell Chris, and he’d always make sure to cuddle her at night.

He had a lot of catching up to do.

Ben shifted her slightly in his arms so she looked up at him, her tear stained face still perfect as ever.

“We’ll go to yours. We can plan everything out tomorrow. Right now I want to be with you too.”

Leslie managed a nod and let Ben escort her back to his car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were lying naked in Leslie’s bed. Their make up sex had been unlike anything either of them had experience before. Ben found out that Leslie had walked to the park and left her car back at City Hall, so he drove her back to hers. His hand never leaving hers while she sniffled next to him, trying to calm down.

The horniness hit when they made it to her front door, the pair staggering inside, pulling at each other’s clothes and kissing sections of skin all over. 

They just about made it upstairs when Leslie started crying again. She blamed it on the hormones. And so things were put on hold while Ben calmed her down and cuddled her instead.

It took about five minutes for the crying to subside, and then it was back to yanking at each other’s clothes. That was when Ben started crying. He pulled off her blouse and caught sight of her belly, the healthy baby they created and that he nearly abandoned, and he couldn’t bear to think of it.

He pressed his lips to her belly, kissing it all over and letting out an anguished sob as he mumbled to it, telling it that he loved it and would never ever leave them again. That immediately prompted Leslie to start crying again.

It took a while, but the pair finally managed to consummate their getting back together without tears. It was messy, and broken, but Leslie wouldn’t have had it any other way.

They were both butt naked, Leslie leaning back into the pillows, while Ben rested against her belly, a hand caressing it lovingly. Her hands were in his hair, stroking the soft, thick locks and relishing in his touch.

Ben loved how her belly felt under his hand. It was bigger then what he remembered, a tiny bump was now sticking outwards and felt slightly firm to touch. His hand scaled around it, rubbing all corners of it. He had missed at least two weeks of bump rubbing, and needed to catch up on some quality time with his baby.

“I wanted to tell you at the ultrasound how adorable our little bean looks now,” Ben said, looking at Leslie.

She smiled softly. “It’s a plum now, not a bean anymore.”

Ben chuckled softly and kissed her bump. “I’m sorry, I mean our beautiful plum.”

Suddenly, a fluttering blossomed in her stomach, something that Leslie had never felt before. She gasped and shot up from the pillows, knocking Ben off in shock, and her hands flying to her belly.

“Leslie? What’s wrong?” Ben asked, alarmed.

“Oh my god,” Leslie gasped out. “It’s moving. Ben, the baby’s moving!” Leslie exclaimed with a shocked laugh coming from her lips.

“Are you serious?” Ben gawped, pressing his hands to her belly, trying to feel something.

Leslie nodded. “You won’t be able to feel it. It’s still too small but…it’s there, Ben. It’s moving and fluttering…God it feels wonderful.”

She giggled again, “I’ve been waiting for this for so long,” she grinned triumphantly. “You’ve finally decided to move, huh?” Leslie then said to her belly. “Is it because Daddy’s back? Were you waiting for Daddy so you could move for the both of us?”

Ben watched adoringly as Leslie spoke to their unborn child. It filled her heart with so much love that he was sure it was going to burst. He placed his hands on top of hers and moved closer.

“Daddy appreciates you waiting for me, and thank you for not being mad at me and Mommy. We’re going to behave from now on. Promise,” Ben said to her belly, and then moved up to Leslie, leaning in and kissing her softly.

“I love you,” he told her. “Never forget that.”

Leslie could feel tears brimming once more. “I love you too, Ben. Tomorrow morning, first thing, we tell Chris and get this out in the open.”

Ben nodded in agreement. “Yep. Get it over with.”

The pair slowly lay down under the covers, Ben’s hands not leaving Leslie’s belly once as she snuggled into his chest, and the two dosed off, Leslie still feeling her baby wiggle inside her, as if it was cheering her on for tomorrow.

_You can do it. You can do it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and kudos are greatly accepted!


	9. The Trial of Leslie Knope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Sunday update for you all!
> 
> A huge thanks goes to supervanillabear31 and Benjis-Cool-Times for betaing this and giving me some wonderful advice!
> 
> Comments and kudos make my day, so please don't forget to leave some!

The next morning, the fear of everything finally hit Ben.

Not that he wasn’t already terrified of coming clean to Chris and losing his job. No, that fear had been circling in his mind for months, probably since the day he found out Leslie was pregnant.

But he finally felt that same fear as Leslie did the morning she agreed to that terrible plan proposed by her campaign team. Because, right now, as he lay in bed, all he could think about was trying to work around this. He wondered if there were any possible ways for both he and Leslie to keep their jobs.

He felt nervous and emotional, and was now wracked with guilt thinking about the torture she put herself through. If he had known sooner, then none of this would have happened.

She should be lying here next to him, perfectly happy and asleep, carrying their child. But instead she was next to him with red, puffy circles around her eyes, signs that she had been crying all through the night.

They weren’t sad tears; they were tears of relief, tears that Ben had forgiven her.

Really, it should be her forgiving him. Ben should be the one with red rings around his eyes, because he finally had Leslie, his love and the mother of his child, back in his life.

Ben sighed. They had promised last night to put an end to the lies. In a few hours, they would both march hand in hand to Chris’s office and tell him the truth. And they’d both probably be fired.

There was a shifting next to him, and he looked to his side. Leslie slowly raised her head and opened a bleary eye.

God, she looked beautiful, Ben thought. Curly blonde hair cascading around her face, nose scrunched up as the sunlight hit her eyes, the now tell-tale baby bump peeking out from her pyjama bottoms. He could never leave her again; he’d be a fool if he did.

“Morning,” Ben murmured, reaching over and tucking a curl behind her ear. “How did you sleep?”

“Okay, I guess,” Leslie sighed, placing a hand over her belly and rubbing it softly. “The baby was moving a lot last night. It kept waking me up.”

Ben leaned down and kissed her bump. “Baby, we love that you are moving now, but can you keep it during daylight hours only so your mama can sleep?”

Leslie giggled sleepily as Ben moved up and kissed her lips. She sighed into him, as if she was trying to burn the feeling of him on her lips for eternity.

“I think it has your sleep schedule,” Ben told her, and Leslie nodded.

“We’ve created a monster,” she agreed, curling up against his chest, Ben happily wrapping her into his arms.

They lay in comfortable silence for a few minutes, and Ben soon realised that Leslie actually woke up at her usual time; he was the one that had woken up early.

“Are you ok?” Leslie asked, resting her head against his chest. “Your heart is going crazy.”

Ben stroked her hair. “I’m fine, honey.”

He felt Leslie nuzzle closer to him after calling her that, and he grinned. 

Because for the first time in a month, despite everything that was going to happen today, he was just fine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Their hands were clasped tightly as they sat in opposite chairs. Leslie’s leg was bouncing up and down, her other hand was placed over her belly.

Chris was there, staring back at them with a shocked expression on his face. They had done it. 

They had told him everything.

They had walked straight into the office with all the confidence they could summon and said to Chris that they needed to talk to him. He happily obliged and offered them a seat. However, his expression soon changed when Leslie and Ben’s hands found each other, fingers lacing in support.

Leslie started. She told Chris everything, about how they were in a relationship and how they broke up after the campaign, but then found out that she was pregnant with Ben’s baby. She explained how her campaign team knew and had come up with the story that the baby was conceived via artificial insemination to save her campaign. 

Ben then joined in, explaining how they had gotten together the day Chris sent them to Indianapolis and that they both really liked each other, and that this was bigger than the both of them. There was a baby involved, forcing them both to come clean.

“The point is,” Leslie finally closed off. She had been studying Chris’s face, and she was sure any more information might cause an overload. “Ben and I have been dating on and off for about a year, and I’m now pregnant with his baby.”

Chris exhaled and leaned back in his chair. “I am, of course, shocked. And not because Ben usually prefers tall brunettes.”

Ben scowled and squeezed Leslie’s hand. “We’re very sorry for the position this puts you in.”

Chris jumped up from his seat, muttering to himself with a hand clamped over his forehead. Leslie also jumped, snatching her hand out of Ben’s.

“What’s happening? Are you hugging me, or are we fighting? Are you hugging or fighting. Let me know,” she said nervously.

“Neither of those things,” Chris said sternly as he leaned against the front of his desk. “I love you both. You are exemplary government employees, which makes what I’m about to say even sadder.”

“Then don’t say it,” Leslie quickly responded.

“I’m launching a full investigation into the extent of your wrongdoing. Please report Monday first thing to the Council Chambers for your ethics trial and subsequent punishment,” Chris said gravely. He exited the office, leaving Leslie and Ben alone in his office.

They more or less got what they were expecting. Ben exhaled loudly, his hand finding Leslie’s once more.

“Told you we’d feel better,” he mumbled sarcastically.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After work, they called everyone to meet at April and Andy’s place.

April was annoyed, partly because Jerry was in her house on a Thursday evening. Andy, however, welcomed everyone in excitedly.

“Okay,” Leslie mumbled, pacing in front of Ann, April, Andy, Donna, Tom, Ron and Jerry. “Alright. Okay. So I have some news for you all.”

Ben was by her side, nodding at Leslie for her to continue.

“So, you all know now that I’m pregnant. But what some of you don’t know, is that the father –”

“Is Ben,” Donna cut in, folding her arms.

Leslie blinked. “Wait. What? Who told you?”

“No one had to tell me. I guessed,” Donna explained. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you two nerds have been looking at each other. A couple weeks ago I saw Ben touching your stomach, and you looked very cosy for just two friends.”

Leslie sighed. “Right… Great. Apparently we haven’t been very sneaky.”

“Well I didn’t know,” Jerry said sheepishly.

“That’s because you miss everything when you’re constantly eating,” Tom jeered, and Jerry fell silent.

“Okay, back to the point,” Leslie called out. “Yes, Ben is the father. We had to tell Chris today about everything, and now he’s putting us both on an ethics trial. So, I just wanted to let you know that when Monday comes I might not be working at City Hall anymore.”

There was a hushed silence. Leslie found herself looking at Ben for support while the news sunk in around her.

“Are you serious?” Tom asked, sounding upset. Leslie had never heard him like that before.

“Yeah. I might get fired. I’m not sure yet, but things aren’t looking great. Besides, I’ve only been using my office for campaign related stuff. April has been taking over for all my projects, and she’s been doing amazingly,” Leslie said.

“Yeah, but I don’t like it,” April whined. “It’s boring and dumb. I want you to come back and do it.”

“What about your campaign?” Donna cut in.

Leslie sighed. “My campaign managers will most definitely quit. And that’s ok. I’ve come to realise that some things are a lot more important than running for City Council.”

She rested a hand over her belly and smiled. “This baby is the most important thing in my life right now, and, if a campaign is going to get in the way and stop me from being a good mother, then it’s not worth it.”

Ben smiled softly and wrapped an arm around her, kissing her forehead sweetly. There was a cry of ‘gross’ and ‘stop’ from the guests in the lounge.

“Get used to it,” Ann chimed in. “They do that a lot.”

“Well. You already know where I stand on this,” Ron said, getting up. “But…I am very happy for you both.” He coughed and looked away. “This is getting too mushy for me.” And, then, without any warning, he abruptly left.

The rest of the team stood up and hugged Leslie, each of them telling her how happy they were for her and reminding her that things might not all be that bad. 

Ben watched tears poured down Leslie’s cheeks as she talked to her department, telling each of them how proud she was, and that she’d miss them. 

And then it hit him.

He had the answer right in front of him, and he didn’t see it until now.

Here he was, watching his girlfriend mourn the loss of her job, when he felt nothing towards his own career. He didn’t care. The only thing he’d be worried about was the money, but even that didn’t scare him as much as it should have in his situation. He had savings; he could find another job easily. Maybe go back to auditing or try something new?

The only thing he felt now, as he watched Leslie emotionally hugging April, was that he wanted her to be ok. And he was now willing to make a sacrifice for her.

He tugged Ann’s arm, pulling her away to the side while Leslie was distracted. 

“I have an idea.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leslie woke in the middle of the night on the day of her trial with her stomach in knots. The baby was fluttering, a feeling she usually welcomed. But, right now, it just made her feel sick.

It had been a terrible nights sleep, so much so that the sun hadn’t even risen yet, and she was already awake. She’d known that she wasn’t going to sleep a wink and tried to stay up as late as possible last night, until Ben finally coaxed her to bed around midnight.

She had no idea what would happen today. Soon after the trial, there would probably be a press statement, explaining why Leslie Knope would no longer be returning to the Parks Department. The media would get a whiff of it, and newspapers would be published, and her campaign team would find out.

She reached out next to her, expecting to feel the warmth of Ben next to her, but her eyes widened when she was met only with an empty bed.

Frantically, she sat up and turned the bedside light on. No. No, no, no, this wasn’t happening. He wasn’t running away on one of the most important days of her life. 

She looked at the clock: 2:19 AM. There was no way he’d be awake right now, or even functioning. Maybe he was in the bathroom? That had to be it.

Pulling the bed sheets back, she climbed out of bed and walked hopefully towards the master bathroom when she saw it.

From the corner of her eye, she spied a stuffed animal on her drawer. She frowned and inspected it closer, gasping in surprise.

It was a toy version of Li’l Sebastian. Next to it was a handwritten letter with a big, loopy ‘Leslie’ on the front. Eagerly, she tore it open and read the note inside.

_Leslie,_

_I know that today is the day of your trial; and I wish I could be there to support you. Sadly, Chris will not let me be in the room with you. So I’ve gone back to my place to prepare for my own hearing. I thought you would probably be up early preparing and wouldn’t want me around as a distraction._

_I’ve left behind Li’l Sebastian; I had him made for you at the toy store. I hope you like him. I also didn’t want you to be alone, so Ann is in the guest bedroom. She’ll make you waffles in the morning and drive you to the hearing._

_Don’t worry about the trial, okay? You will be just fine. You’ll get a slap on the wrist if anything, and we’ll go on like normal. Only, this time, we get to act like the family we were supposed to be._

_I love you so much._

_Yours truly,_

_Ben._

At the bottom of the note was a scruffy drawing of their good friend, the kiss monster. Leslie always drew him better, but she appreciated Ben’s attempt. 

Leslie hugged the toy to her chest and kissed the mane sweetly. He smelled like Ben’s cologne.

She crept out of her room and down the hall to the guest bedroom. Sure enough, Ann was curled up under the sheets, just like Ben promised.

Ever so carefully, Leslie slid under the covers next to Ann, and her best friend shifted.

“Leslie?” Ann mumbled, her voice croaky.

“Yeah, it’s me. I just wanted to say thank you for being here,” Leslie whispered, cuddling into Ann’s side.

Ann smiled softly. “It’s ok. It was Ben’s idea. The dork is really in love with you.”

Leslie’s hand slid down to her belly and stroked it gently. “I know. I love him too.”

“Good. Go ‘sleep. I’m not getting up for another three hours.”

Leslie rested her head on the spare pillow, Lil Sebastian tucked under her arm as she finally managed to drift into a comfortable sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leslie fiddled anxiously with her hands as she waited for her trial to begin. Ann had woken her up that morning with a plate full of waffles, but Leslie was too nervous to eat.

She wasn’t the kind of person to get fired, or even get a slap on the wrist. This was like a kick to the nuts for her.

Ann was just outside of the room waiting for her, and Ben was at April and Andy’s preparing for his own trial. He texted her several times in the morning to tell her not to be worried, and he would see her later, but there was still a sinking feeling of doubt in Leslie’s gut. She had lied; surely she was about to be fired.

The door to the chambers opened and Leslie jumped to her feet as the judges walked in with Chris. Leslie’s eyes narrowed when she caught sight of Chris’s face; it looked like he had been crying.

“Before we start,” the judge said as he took his seat opposite Leslie. “It needs to be put on the record that the committee met with Ben Wyatt at 8 o’clock this morning where he took full responsibility and resigned effective immediately.”

Leslie’s heart stopped. No. That wasn’t possible. Ben was home right now cramming for his own trial. He didn’t resign… He couldn’t have.

She looked over at Chris, who was dabbing his eyes and bile rose in her throat. It was true. Ben had resigned. 

“Despite this, we will still continue with the trial to determine whether Ms. Knope violated any municipal rules or laws during their romantic relationship,” the judge continued. “Would you like to make a statement at this time?”

Leslie was prepared; she had rehearsed a statement about their relationship for the entire weekend and most of last night. But now the words were caught in her throat. The news about Ben had shocked her so much that her fingertips felt numb, and she felt as if she couldn’t breathe.

“May I ask for a brief recess to gather my thoughts… I didn’t expect to hear that,” Leslie managed to stammer out.

The judge nodded and adjourned for five minutes. Leslie collapsed into the chair and frantically texted Ann what had happened, then tried to call Ben.

No answer.

She tried again, and again, but every time she got his voicemail.

Leslie couldn’t believe it. She slumped backwards in her chair, looking up at the ceiling. Ben did that for her, and typically now when she needed to get hold of him to find out why he wasn’t answering his phone.

She typed out a text and hit send before she could read what she had said.

“Why did you do that?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ann stormed down the hall and reached Chris’s office. She pushed the door open with such force that it slammed against the wall, causing Chris to look up from his desk alarmed.

“What the hell are you doing?” Ann snapped. “She’s _pregnant_. Ben resigned and took the blame. There shouldn’t be a trial anymore!”

Chris sighed. “Please don’t do this, Ann.”

“No, I am going to do this,” Ann hissed. “She’s gone through enough stress. Ben resigned to take this away from her. But you are still going on with the trial. Why? What else do you want to prove? Yes, they broke your rule, but that’s it. You know that. They did nothing else wrong.”

“Yes they did,” Chris said, standing up abruptly. “They bribed a City Hall employee for his silence during the Li’l Sebastian memorial. They were caught kissing and gave him a spa voucher to keep quiet. I know everything. And, because of that, we have to carry on with the trial to find out exactly everything. It’s not my choice.”

He sighed and rubbed his forehead. “This is not easy for me either, you know. This is stressful, and I feel quite depressed today. The vitamin B12 shot my herbalist gave this morning has _literally_ not worked at all.”

Ann folded her arms. “How many witnesses do you have? I was supposed to be one, and I have proof of the exact day when they got together on my laptop. Other than me, who else is there?”

Chris pulled out a piece of paper from his padfolio. “14.”

Ann snatched the list out and looked at it. The entire Parks Department was on there, plus Tammy II for some reason, and a few other City Hall employees that she knew would have no evidence whatsoever.

“And which one is the guy they bribed?”

Chris pointed to a name halfway down the page. “George Williams from Public Works.”

Ann looked at the name. She knew that Leslie had given away the spa voucher to this man. That was something that she wouldn’t be able to get away with. But everyone else could easily be taken out. They didn’t need to give evidence if that one person stepped forward, said his piece and left. 

“Alright,” Ann said, lowering the paper and looking at Chris. “How about this: you take off all of these witnesses. Everyone from Parks will fight you with evidence that they did nothing wrong. Tammy II, I guarantee you will be lying, and everyone else is irrelevant. Let George come forward and say his piece, and the trial will last for ten minutes, maximum.”

Chris opened his mouth to counter, but Ann shushed him. “You cannot put her on a trial like this. Maybe if she wasn’t pregnant, sure. But Ben resigned, he took the blame, and if you are so hell bent on making sure that Leslie gets her punishment, then why beat around the bush with everyone? George will come forward, and that will be it.”

She glared at him, and Chris stepped backwards. “You drive a hard bargain, Ann Perkins. I will call off the witnesses and ask George to come forward and give his statement.”

“Thank you,” Ann breathed out in relief.

She was about to leave when she heard Chris clear his throat.

“I’m not hell bent on making sure Leslie in punished. In fact, this has been the hardest thing I have ever had to do. But it’s not my rule; it’s a government’s,” Chris said in a quiet, hurt voice.

Ann turned back to him and nodded. “I know.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Suspension with pay.

That was it. That was Leslie’s punishment. However, since Ron had taken away all of Leslie’s work since she got pregnant to work on her campaign, really her only punishment would be that she couldn’t use her office or anything on City Hall property.

She could cope with that. It was a small price to pay. Because now Leslie could be with Ben.

The committee adjourned, and Leslie let out a sigh of relief. It was over, the trial being nowhere as long as she had originally thought it would be. 

Yes, she could have done without George’s testimony, but all in all it went well. 

As she was gathering her things, Chris made his way over to her, a solemn look on his face.

“I’m very sorry about this,” he said. “My job is protect the government from fraud and corruption…I was just doing my job, I hope you can understand that.”

Leslie looked at Chris and could tell that this situation made him miserable. She slowly nodded. “I do. Honestly I do.”

Chris smiled weakly. “You are an excellent government employee. And, more importantly, you’re the only person I’ve ever met who’s worthy of being Ben’s girlfriend and mother to his child.”

Leslie smiled and looked down at her belly. Their baby had been moving non-stop during the trial. It was a welcoming, comforting feeling. She rubbed it gently. “I hope that’s true.”

Chris turned around to gather his things when he paused. “You know, the meeting Ben and I had… It’s on the record. You should take a look at the last page of the transcript.”

With that, he left, leaving Leslie alone with Ethel Beavers. It took her a while, but she finally managed to pry the page from her so she could read it herself.

As she scanned the page, she felt tears brim in her eyes and her heart swelled ten sizes as she read the last paragraph.

_Mr. Traeger: “Can I ask you one more question? Was all of this…the sneaking around, the scandal… Was it worth it?”_

_Mr. Wyatt: “Yes… It was. Because I love Leslie. I want to be with her and to be a real family. And I don’t want to hide the way I feel about her anymore… So, yeah, it was worth it.”_

Leslie swallowed and handed the paper back to Ethel. Her emotions were running sky high. She couldn’t believe that this was on the official record of their trial. This was a testament of love and adoration. Ben had sacrificed so much for her, and she needed to return it somehow.

She turned to Ethel. “I need you to come with me.”

Ethel grumbled as Leslie urged her out of the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leslie saw Ben sitting on the doorstep to April and Andy’s home. She slowly climbed out of the car and walked towards him.

“Hi, honey. How was your day?”

“Oh, I’ve had better,” Ben replied, getting up from the step. “How are you?”

Leslie walked up to him, taking his hand in hers and looking up into his warm brown eyes. “I can’t believe you did that. You didn’t have to. We would have worked it out.”

Ben shook his head. “No, there wasn’t any other way. When we were here the other night telling the Parks Department, you looked so upset, and… I couldn’t sit back and watch you possibly lose a job that you love. My job… It’s replaceable. Yours isn’t.”

He let go of her hands and cupped her face, wiping away stray tears that fell down her cheeks. “It’s ok. I wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. I hope this doesn’t affect your campaign.”

Leslie shook her head; she knew that William and Elizabeth were long gone as soon as the scandal came to light. “Don’t worry about that right now… There’s a piece of testimony that came out during the trial that I think you would be interested in.”

She turned her head and called for Ethel to come out of the car. She begrudgingly clambered out and opened up the official testament.

“The official record has been annoyingly reopened so that Leslie Knope can make a statement,” Ethel read out loud in a monotone voice.

Ben grinned at Leslie and listened intently while Ethel read the statement.

“Let the record state that I, Leslie Knope, love Ben Wyatt. I love him with all my heart and could not be happier that we are expecting a baby. He is the only man that I would want to start my family with.”

During the speech, Ben refused to look at anything but Leslie. She was his, and they didn’t have to hide anymore. The thought of holding her hand in public or kissing her cheek during dinner sent shivers down his spine. How long he had waited to finally get this opportunity.

His hand reached out and wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer until their lips touched. Snowflakes showered their coats, but they didn’t notice. The passion and heat would melt anything that came too close.

Their tongues had just started to intertwine when they heard Ethel shout ‘Can I get a ride home? It’s freezing.’ 

Leslie pulled away and rolled her eyes. She took Ben’s hand again and led him towards her car. “My place tonight?”

“Yes please.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I still can’t believe you did that for me,” Leslie said in awe, unable to get her head around today. “You resigned for me. No one has ever done that before.”

Ben smirked. “How many secret relationships have you had?”

“You know what I mean,” Leslie chided as she climbed next to him. “What are you going to do about work?”

Ben thought for a moment and then shrugged his shoulders. “I’m not sure. I’ll find something, maybe accounting? I mean that’s a stable job, right? And I’m qualified for it. I kind of want to enjoy time off for a while. Maybe I’ll get a job once your suspension ends so we can spend some time together.”

Leslie smiled and kissed his cheek. “I’d like that, you’ll keep me company.” She then groaned. “I’m going to go crazy! I can’t set foot on government property for two weeks! That’s where all my campaign stuff is.” She then paused. “God. I don’t even want to think about my campaign right now.”

“Then don’t,” Ben advised, pulling her closer. “We got through this relatively unscathed. And that was what we wanted.”

He rested a hand on her belly, slowly rubbing his fingers across the mound. “We can finally be a real couple…a real family.”

Leslie felt an overwhelming surge in her lower stomach. A rush of love that she had never felt for Ben before. It was like a million tiny fireworks exploding in her heart, each of them spelling out Ben’s name.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer, pressing their lips together in a heated kiss. 

“I love you, Ben,” she whispered into his mouth as their noses rubbed together. “So much.”

Ben grinned and kissed her lips again, slowly moving down to her neck. “I love you too.”

“I love you,” Leslie said again as she tugged the hem of Ben’s shirt, pulling it over his head.

“I love you,” Ben moaned as he unhooked Leslie’s bra and toyed with her nipples.

He pinned her down onto the bed, pulling off her pyjama bottoms and panties. He made his usual speech to her belly, telling the baby to ignore everything that was happening right now and pushed into her without warning, causing Leslie to scream and rake her nails down his back.

And, as Leslie dozed in Ben’s arms afterwards, she realised that it was the perfect ending to a terrible day. It didn’t matter what happened next with her campaign. She knew that they would get through it.

They had come this far after all. They were both unstoppable.


	10. Citizen Knope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New update! Comments and kudos are much appreciated!
> 
> A huge thanks goes to PawneeWafflesBen for beta-ing and to Supervanillabear31 and BenjisCoolTimes for their unwavering support.

The first day of Leslie’s suspension and Ben’s resignation was blissful.

It was filled with cuddles in bed, slow, sleepy kisses on the couch, as Ben would press his lips to her belly, mumbling to their baby.

By the second day, Leslie was bored.

Ben had tried to distract her by driving her to a baby store in Bloomington to pick out things like a stroller and adorable onesies for the baby, but Leslie grumbled irritably the entire time.

Five days in, she couldn’t take it anymore.

“I shouldn’t be cooped up in here,” Leslie announced while pacing in front of Ben, who was sat in front of her on the couch. “I should be re-launching my campaign.”

“With who, honey?” Ben asked. “Your campaign team quit.”

“Correct, but that’s where you come in.”

Ben immediately knew where she was going with this.

“Leslie, I said no,” Ben said, running a hand through his hair.

“I know. But just hear me out,” Leslie said, taking a seat next to him. “How great would it be if we launched this campaign as a family? Like, my speech could be something along the lines of ‘Hi, My name’s Leslie Knope and I’m re-launching my campaign with the help of my new campaign manager and baby daddy, Ben Wyatt.”

Ben rolled his eyes. He had found out Leslie’s plans the other night when he caught her making up campaign speeches in her sleep. They were really specific again, like the one she made the day he found out about her campaign. The next morning he questioned her about it and she bashfully admitted that she had been thinking about Ben becoming her campaign manager, an idea he immediately shot down.

“Okay, well first off, I don’t think you should introduce me as your baby daddy,” Ben said as he leaned forward, clasping his hands together.

“Great! So you’ll do it?”

“Second of all,” Ben interrupted. “I’m not going to run your campaign. I know that you think it’s a good idea but I’m not qualified and I’ve already done enough to basically ruin it for you. I’m poison to your campaign, remember? You said so yourself.”

Leslie frowned. Okay, yeah, she did say that.

Damn baby brain.

She pouted. Sure, he was kind of a disaster zone right now. Their relationship was the reason why her advisors pulled out in the first place, and, before that, put her through all that trouble.

“Bennn,” she whined, toying with his fingers.

“Leslieee,” Ben said back, mimicking her tone. “I’m sorry but no, that’s my final answer.”

Leslie grunted and buried her face into a nearby pillow. Things weren’t fair. All she wanted to do was have a fair shot at City Council, while raising a family with a wonderful boyfriend with a perfect butt. Why was that so hard to accomplish?

“Come on, don’t be sad,” Ben said, tugging her back upright. “You’ll find someone, you were doing well before the scandal, and it’s not really a scandal. We just fell in love; it’s not a crime or anything. Someone will understand.”

Leslie pursed her lips. “Maybe Ann will do it if I ask nicely?”

“See,” Ben said, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close to him. “Things are looking up already. You’ll be the two best friends running a campaign together.”

Leslie slumped back again while Ben went back to reading on his iPad. She could tell that Ben was getting bored too. He claimed that he was throwing himself into his hobbies and trying out Claymation and making calzones to occupy his time. He had applied for jobs, but nothing had come up as of yet. 

He insisted that he was fine and happy, but Leslie could see the life behind his eyes slowly dimming. 

“You are ok, right?” Leslie asked, eyes narrowing slightly.

“Of course, babe,” Ben answered. “I’m great.”

He kissed the top of her head, and Leslie sighed. She arched her back slightly and breathed out.

Ben sat up a little. “Is your back still bothering you?”

“Yeah,” Leslie mumbled, her hands rubbing down towards the lower part of her spine. She had only just moved into her second trimester, and the baby was causing aches and pains in her lower back.

“Come here, let me help,” Ben said, putting down his iPad and turning Leslie to her side. His hands found her back and pressed into the flesh around her spine.

“Oh god,” Leslie moaned as Ben kneaded her spine.

“Yeah?” Ben asked. “Is that good?”

“So good,” Leslie whispered low in her throat. “What would I ever do without you?”

Ben just chuckled and kissed the side of her neck, causing Leslie to moan again. Ben smirked. The second trimester. It made Leslie ache constantly but it also made her incredibly horny.

And it was only the first week. Things were only going to get better. 

He started sucking on her pulse point and Leslie’s head lolled round, giving him a better angle. His hands moved from her back round to her front, cupping her sensitive breasts. Leslie let out a surprised gasp and wiggled back into Ben’s crotch.

“Why does this happen every time you massage my back?” Leslie asked through breathy moans.

Ben teased a nipple through her shirt and bra. “I don’t know. But I don’t hear you complaining either.”

Leslie pushed back again, a little harder this time, accidentally putting too much pressure on Ben and he slipped backwards, taking Leslie with him until she was lying completely on his front.

She let out a surprised giggle and Ben was right there with her, laughing along. He could feel her laughs vibrating into his chest; it made his heart throb and beat spikes of warmth around him.

He brought his arms around her, placing them on her belly and rubbing it all over. “I love you so much,” he said once the laughter had subsided and kissed her neck.

Leslie’s gave a final giggle and tried her best to face him. “I love you too.”

Ben loved the sound of her laugh. It was something he had missed over the past month. Things had been so stressful for them both that they barely had the chance just to be with each other. They were having a baby. They should’ve should be giddy with excitement, not breaking up and getting back together and going through ethics trials. 

But all that was behind them. Now, Ben could wrap his arms around his beautiful girlfriend and mother of his baby. He could kiss her in public and not worry about who’d be watching them. He’d be able to rub her belly in the waiting room of the doctor’s office, letting everyone see that he was the proud father. He’d be able to just let go of everything and go back to being in love with Leslie Knope.

It should be easy, right? 

So why didn’t it feel like it?

Because every time he thought about the baby and Leslie, there was a voice in his head. A voice reminding him that he was unemployed and worthless. To raise a family you needed money, you couldn’t do it on love alone.

Ben could still hear Leslie giggling away as she lay on top of him. Right now, he had to push all these dark thoughts to the very depth of his mind. Right now, he just wanted to laugh along with his beautiful girlfriend and kiss her until she couldn’t breathe.

He sat up slowly, giving Leslie a chance to get herself comfortable again, and once they were face to face, he pressed his lips to her. Leslie sighed into him and her hand stroked against his growing beard. He hadn’t shaved in a while, and his usual tidy stubble was growing longer than he had seen it in a long time. He had unemployment to thank for that.

Leslie wrapped her legs around Ben’s waist and he felt her stomach press into him. Her still small baby bump that would soon grow bigger to accommodate their baby. The bump that told Ben that Leslie was working hard to ensure their baby got all the nutrients that it needed. The bump that reminded him that soon there would be another mouth to feed…

No. He couldn’t think of that now, not when Leslie was wrapped around his waist and kissing him hard.

His hands moved around her back and pulled her as close to him as he could and nibbled at Leslie’s bottom lip. She moaned into him and ground down on him.

“You’re so beautiful,” Ben whispered. “So, so beautiful.”

Leslie closed her eyes and let out a breath sigh as Ben’s hands hooked around her stretchy pants and pulled them slowly down. While he did that, Leslie worked on lowering his own pyjamas. 

Ben groaned when he felt Leslie’s small hands wrap around his dick. Her soft fingers delicately teased the smooth skin around him, rubbing the tip and trailing precum back down.

“God, Leslie,” Ben breathed out.

Leslie looked into his eyes, and Ben felt his stomach drop to his toes.

“I love you so much,” Leslie breathed up, hitching herself up so that Ben could slide in underneath her.

“I love you too,” Ben whispered. With one movement, he pushed up and was buried inside of her. Leslie gasped at the stretching feeling in her lower region and placed her hands on Ben’s shoulders to steady herself.

Ben kept one hand steady on her waist and the other flocking to between her thighs. He rubbed at her clit, putting a slight force onto it, which caused Leslie’s hips to buck and grind into him erratically.

She chanted his name like a sweet mantra, and Ben soon felt her shudder around him. That was almost a record for her. He thanked pregnancy again for making her come so easily.

Ben wrapped his arms tightly around her, pulling her impossibly closer to him. He used every muscle in his body to thrust up into her. He had to finish soon, he could feel Leslie slump against his shoulder, telling him that she was tired and nap was on the cards soon.

He grunted loudly as he felt the cold heat surround his balls, scalding him until he felt himself spill into Leslie. Slowly bringing him back down into reality.

Not even the euphoria of an orgasm could keep Ben’s mind from drifting into the dark depths. He buried his face into the crook of Leslie’s neck and listened to her soft breathing. 

He couldn’t feel like this. It wasn’t possible. He was the luckiest man alive right now. He had Leslie. They were having a baby together. He had to shake off this feeling and act like a man.

Leslie slowly raised her head and kissed Ben’s cheek. “Bed?” she asked.

Ben smirked. It was 8:39. Recently Leslie had been sapped of energy and could easily sleep for at least 12 hours a day. 

Ben kissed the side of her neck. “That sounds great.”

She didn’t need to know this. She didn’t need to know that Ben felt like a worthless piece of crap and unable to bring himself out of this funk. He didn’t want to hurt her.

He’d done plenty of that already.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Seal the edges by crimping the fork – ah crap.”

Ben cursed as the sauce seeped out from the dough. It didn’t faze him. It was his first time making calzones, of course the first batch wasn’t going to be the tidiest.

But he’d bet that they’d taste amazing.

He was back at April and Andy’s while Ann took Leslie out Christmas shopping. One of that many distractions she had planned to keep Leslie occupied during her suspension. 

They had only been gone for an hour or so when Ben heard the door open. 

He looked up and saw Chris shyly walking it. Ben had known Chris for years, and he was not one for quietly slipping into any room. He always would make an entrance, greeting anyone who passed.

“Hey, sorry, the door was unlocked. Is it ok if I come in?” Chris asked meekly.

Ben sighed. Chris was treating him like a wounded animal. He understood why he had to put them on trial, hell, he would have done the same. It was just the ethos of the job.

“Sure, man. How are you?” Ben asked, wiping his hands on a nearby kitchen towel.

“I’ve been good. I miss your company in the office though,” Chris said. “I realised the other day that this is the first time in twelve years that we haven’t been working together.”

Ben smiled sadly. “All good things must come to an end, I guess.”

Chris placed a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “Be honest. How have you been? You’ve hit a bit of a rough patch, and I care about you. So I wanted to make sure you’re okay.”

Ben forced a smile. “Chris, honestly, I’m great. I’m just exploring whatever fun activity pops into my head.”

He gestured to the calzones lined up on a tray in the kitchen. “See? I’m making calzones. They are going to be great. Do you want one?”

Chris refused. Stating that they were fatty and pointless. Which made Ben wrinkle his nose.

It was when Ben was showing Chris his recent Claymation project when he saw that same look on his face. The wounded animal look.

“What?”

“Ben, you’re depressed,” Chris said quietly.

Ben swallowed, lowering the Claymation model. “Is it obvious?”

“It looks like you’ve been wearing the same shirt for three days now, you haven’t shaved in maybe over a week. And your hair does not have that normal, uptight, rigid, inflexible Ben Wyatt sense of fun,” Chris noted. 

Ben took a deep breath inward. “I can’t be feeling like this. I don’t understand it.”

Chris patted his shoulder. “Come on, let’s talk about it.”

A few moments later they were sat on the couch. Ben desperately trying to get his thoughts in order, while Chris puttered around the kitchen, making Ben a smoothie.

“So when did this start?” Chris asked as he handed Ben the bright green smoothie.

Ben took a sip and grimaced. “Just after I quit. I thought I was fine, because it was my choice, and I did it because my love for Leslie and the baby beats anything. But then I just remember thinking if it was the best decision. Because now I have no job, no prospects. And I’m supposed to be the one supporting Leslie and buying new strollers… right now the thought of having to buy diapers basically every day makes me feel sick.”

He buried his face in his hands. “I didn’t want to turn out like my father but I’m heading that way. Unemployed. Sitting around on my ass just waiting for opportunities to come knocking. I should’ve had a job lined up or something before I resigned. I acted so stupidly.”

Chris watched as Ben broke down in front of him. He leaned forward, gripping him by the shoulders.

“Ben. You resigning was perhaps the most noble thing I have ever seen in my life. You took a metaphorical bullet for your family. It doesn’t matter that you don’t have a job right now, because your love and bravery beats that. Plus Leslie’s suspension will be lifted soon and she’ll be back at work,” Chris explained.

“But I don’t want her to work. She needs to rest and she’s out there trying to do it all. She wants me to run her campaign for her. I can’t do that. I’m barely holding it together as it is,” Ben cried out.

He felt tears sting his eyes. “I shouldn’t be feeling like this. I have a freaking baby on the way. New parents shouldn’t be feeling depressed like the world is about to collapse on top of them.”

“You need to talk to Leslie,” Chris said. “You need to tell her that you’re worried. Just getting this out in the open will help. She needs to know.”

He lifted the smoothie. “Or failing that. Just drink an herbal smoothie. They always do the trick.”

Ben frowned. He’d rather eat a belt.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben drove over to Leslie’s that evening after she had finished shopping. He walked into her home and up the stairs, hoping to find her tucked into bed already to give him time to think about what to say.

Instead, she was sat cross-legged on the bed, wrapping paper lay all around her and she was wrapping what looked like a gold record.

“Oh, hey!” Leslie exclaimed, looking up at Ben. “Come have a look at this.”

Ben crossed the room and leaned over her shoulder, examining the present. “I managed to get Mouse Rat’s album certified gold. It’s Andy’s Christmas present.”

Ben grinned. “He’ll love it.”

Leslie beamed at him and carried on wrapping. Giving Ben a chance to look at Leslie all over. She was wearing a white t-shirt with what looked like a Christmas pudding around her bump.

“What is that?” he asked, and Leslie giggled.

“Oh, Ann got it for me,” Leslie said, straightening up so that Ben could see the shirt. “I thought it was cute.”

Ben looked at the shirt. Just above the Christmas pudding were the words ‘mama’s little pudding.’ Ok, it was really adorable. It made him just want to crawl next to her and kiss her, a hand on her bump, keeping his family safe.

But there was a voice in his head. Reminding him that he wouldn’t be able to keep them save. He didn’t have a job, didn’t have a steady income, didn’t have anything.

Worthless.

“I’ve barely heard from you all day,” Leslie said, placing Andy’s wrapped present on the side and patting the empty spot next to her. “What did you get up to.”

“Oh… you know. The usual,” Ben mumbled, toeing off his shoes and climbing next to Leslie. “Chris came over.”

“Oh, fun. Did you get up to anything?”

Ben gulped. This was it, he needed to tell her. Tell her that things weren’t ok and he was worried.

It would be ok. It was Leslie, she’d understand…right?

“I want to talk to you about something,” Ben muttered, and Leslie looked up at him.

He chewed at his bottom lip. “I just want you to know that despite everything. I love you, and our plum. I love you both so, so much, and everything that I’m feeling right now is nothing to do with you.”

Leslie’s expression changed to shock. “Ben, what’s going on? You’re scaring me.”

“I’ve been depressed,” Ben blurted out. “I don’t want to be. I don’t understand why, but I am. It scares me that I don’t have a job. I’m supposed to be the one bringing in the income, especially when you have the baby, I have to be the one taking care of you both, especially since you’re doing all the hard work now. But it freaks me out that I’m sat here, unemployed.”

He ran a shaky had through his wild hair. “I don’t get it. I should be happy. We’re having a baby. You and the baby are the best things that have ever happened to me. But… there’s a voice in my head reminding me that I’m not good enough, and that scares me. Because one day you might wake up and realise that you don’t want someone who can’t hold a job down, or our baby might realise that it doesn’t want a disappointment for a father. I just don’t know what to do.”

He started to tremble, and tears seeped through his eyes and down his cheeks. Leslie was quick to comfort him, wrapping him up his arms and rocking him gently.

“Hey, hey, it’s ok,” Leslie soothed softly, kissing the top of his head. “You’ve had a big change in life. It’s completely natural to be frightened. But you’ve got this. We’ve got this.”

“But what if I haven’t?” Ben asked, trying to sit up, but Leslie still kept a firm grip on him, keeping him against her chest. “What if I end up raising the Ice Town of children.”

“You won’t, because I sure as hell won’t let you,” Leslie said, carding her fingers through his hair. “You’ll be a great dad, and you said it yourself, it’s only been a week since you quit. You’ll find another job soon. I know you don’t want to be my campaign manager and I won’t pressure you anymore. To be honest, it’s kind of dead anyway, Ann doesn’t want to run it and I don’t have a team, which will make you my newest project. I’m going to help you. You’ll find a job that’s high paying in no time, promise.”

Ben managed to lift his head to look into Leslie’s eyes. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I am,” Leslie said. “We’ve gotten this far. I’m not letting you give up on me now.”

Ben chuckled and sat up, cupping Leslie’s face in his hands. “I really wish I didn’t feel like this,” he said again.

Leslie smiled sadly. “I know. But sometimes we can’t help it. To be honest, I didn’t realise you felt this low, and I wish I would have seen the signs earlier.”

Ben smirked. “What signs?”

“You’ve been wearing that same ‘Letters to Cleo’ shirt for days now, and you haven’t shaved,” Leslie noted, rubbing his scraggly beard.

“Funny, Chris said the same thing,” Ben mumbled, tucking his head back under Leslie’s chin.

“I’ve still got a week left of my suspension, tomorrow we will start applying for jobs. You’ll be back to work in no time, ok?” Leslie said, going back to stroking Ben’s brown locks.

Ben nodded into her chest. “Okay. Thank you so much, Leslie.” His hand moved to her bump. “Thank you for being so understanding.”

Leslie smiled softly and nuzzled into the top of Ben’s head. “It’s okay. Just remember that you are so loved.”

Ben closed his eyes in bliss, feeling the best that he had felt in days.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ben walked down the corridors of City Hall. It was still weird coming back here after quitting, but things were finally moving forward for him. He had just had a very successful job interview at an accounting firm for a stable and high paying job. Something that should make him so happy. But it didn’t.

That’s what he wanted, to find a new job that would be financially beneficial. But he didn’t feel happy at all.

Still, he’d take the job, it would keep him busy in the end. And it would provide for his family. 

He was on his way to find Chris, to let him know that he was feeling a lot better. Then he’d head back to get Leslie to take her out for a celebratory lunch. She had just hit her fifteen week mark, and wanted to celebrate every week passed of her pregnancy.

“Ben?”

Ben stopped at the sound of his name. He turned around and saw Ann poking her head out of her office.

“Can I talk to you for a sec?” She asked, and Ben nodded, following her back into her office.

“Leslie said that you haven’t been feeling yourself recently. I just wanted to make sure that you’re doing ok. Just from a nurse’s prospective I want to make sure that you know about the options available for mental health services,” Ann said, sitting back down at her desk.

“I’m okay, thanks,” Ben said. “I mean, not all there completely but getting there. I was just freaked out about not working, but I had a job interview today at an accounting firm that went well.”

The thought of the job interview made Ben’s face fall, and Ann frowned.

“Really? You don’t seem to happy about it,” Ann noted.

Ben sighed. “I mean sure I should feel more excited about taking a job but… it’s not really something that I wanted to do. But I don’t really have the chance to explore into the field.”

“Did Leslie ask you about running her campaign?”

Ben looked back up. “Yeah, but I’m not going to. That would be insane. She already said I’m poison to her campaign, it just wouldn’t work out.”

“I think it would,” Ann said, leaning back in her chair. “She asked me to do it when you refused, and really, I’d hoped that you’d help me out. I don’t know the first thing about campaign management. I’d probably run it into the ground. She needs someone who’s firm and tough. She needs you to do it. Don’t forget you are the same person who ran for mayor at eighteen and won.”

“Yeah and look how well that went,” Ben said.

“And thankfully you won’t be on the City Council after this,” Ann cut in. “You can run a campaign, you’ve proven that. And you can do it again.”

She crossed her arms across her chest. “You clearly don’t want to take this accounting job, and you just said that you wanted to explore the field. So why not go back to something that you’d always had a passion for. You’d basically be working for Leslie so she’d pay you, and plus you have money. You came here as a budget specialist, so I’m sure you probably had a good amount of money tucked away for things like this.”

Ben paused for a moment. Sure, he had a pretty healthy savings account with money that he had saved since he was 15. He always thought that he didn’t want to open it, but right now, it seemed like the perfect time to dip in.

“You really don’t want to do this, do you?” Ben grinned at Ann.

Ann shook her head. “I mean I’d do anything for her, but not this, I’m not qualified.”

Ben nodded in agreement. “Nurse turned campaigned manager isn’t really something you hear every day.”

Ann gave a soft laugh. “So what do you reckon? Will you do it? We’re having a Christmas party for Leslie tomorrow and we’re all going to announce that we’re going to be her new campaign team. We’ll need someone to keep us in order, what do you say?”

Ben closed his eyes, his mind doing a 360 loop-de-loop as he considered all of his options. Although this accounting job would be perfect, it would also be boring, and wouldn’t help with Ben’s depression. And working for Leslie did sound fun, they’d be able to spend time together and he’d be able to keep an eye on her and the baby.

He took a deep breath, he had made up his mind.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leslie had received the invite from Ann to come to the Parks Department for a Christmas party. But when she turned up and walked into the department, she didn’t expect to see all of her friends lined up, and a gingerbread house in the middle of the room.

“What’s all this?” she gasped as she looked around. 

“Merry Christmas, Leslie!” Ann announced happily. “We made you this replica of the Parks Department out of gingerbread.”

Leslie squeaked as she inspected it. The department was all there, and different candies and frosting marked all over. She wasn’t sure if it was the cravings, or just the fact that her friends put so much effort into it, but she suddenly wanted to gobble the entire thing up.

Starting with Donna’s silver M&M desk.

Did they even make silver M&Ms?

“Oh my god,” Leslie squealed, “I love it, and I love you guys and Ann specifically,” Leslie said, giving her best friend a hug.

“You did all of this together?”

“Yes, except for me,” Ron said, stepping forward. “Turns out, I cannot make a gingerbread house, which would bother me if I were an eight year old girl. In any case, these people stepped up and helped me out, and that gave me another idea.”

He bent down and lifted up a small box. Inside was a replica of the city council chambers, and what looked like a candy version of Leslie, cradling a candy baby. “This is the city council chambers, and that’s you and the baby next May,” Ron explained. Placing the box in front of her so Leslie could get a better look.

“I don’t understand,” Leslie mumbled.

Suddenly, a banner group in front of Jerry’s face, proclaiming ‘Knope 2012.’

“Your campaign advisors quit, big deal?” Ann said, stepping forward. “You’re running for city council again, Leslie. With our help.”

She nudged April, who rolled her eyes and straightened up. “April Ludgate, youth outreach and director of new media.”

“Tom Haverford,” Tom went next. “Image consultant and swagger coach.”

“Ann Perkins,” Ann joined in. “Office manager, volunteer coordinator, and baby nurse, should you need anything baby related.”

“Andy Dwyer,” Andy came from behind April. “Security, sweets, body man, javelin if needs be.”

“Donna Meagle,” Donna said, winking at Leslie, “Transpo, AKA rides in my benz.” 

All eyes fell on Jerry, who immediately grew flustered. “Y-you guys didn’t tell me we were doing this!” he gasped and turned red in the face.

Ron quickly covered for him. “Ron Swanson. Any other damn thing you might need.”

Leslie looked like she was ready to cry. “You guys, it’s so much work. I can’t ask you to put your lives on hold.”

“Find one person here who you haven’t helped by putting your life on hold,” Ann said. “Besides, we have someone else who has offered to help and will keep us in order.”

Everyone turned to the conference room, and Leslie’s eyes widened as Ben stepped out. He was clean shaven and dressed in a sharp suit. 

“Ben Wyatt,” he announced. “Campaign manager and first point of call for anything baby-related.”

Leslie couldn’t take it anymore. She promptly burst into tears. “Y-you said you weren’t going to do it.”

Ben shrugged and walked over to her. “I know. But I had some convincing. Turns out this is where I want to be, helping you be as successful and amazing as you possibly can be.”

He grinned. “Plus, I have to be involved, who’s going to stop you from overworking and forcing you to take naps.”

Leslie giggled and wiped at her eyes. Then, she stood up on her toes and kissed Ben soundly. He looked wonderful, and if the room wasn’t filled with her friends, then she would jump his bones right now. 

“I don’t know what else to say,” Leslie said, turning back to the group and allowing Ben to wrap an arm around her. “Except… let’s go win an election!”

The room cheered and bottles of champagne were popped opened. Christmas music started playing from DJ Roomba, and the celebrations really started.

Leslie was marvelling at the gingerbread house when Ben came up behind her, winding his arms around her belly and kissing her cheek sweetly. “How’re you doing?”

“Good,” Leslie nodded and leaned back into him. “I can’t believe you guys did all this.”

Ben grinned. “We all care about you, and we know how much this means to you. It’ll be hard, but we’re all willing to put in the effort.”

Leslie turned in his arms, letting Ben’s hands find their way to her bump. “Merry Christmas, Ben,” she whispered.

Ben chuckled. “You’re like a week early.”

Leslie grinned. “I know, but it just seemed right to say.” 

Ben kissed the top of her head and pulled her into his grasp. He couldn’t tell her that this wasn’t really her Christmas present, and that he’d seen the millions of adorable onesies and baby-related presents that her friends had gotten her. No, she’d find those out on Christmas Day.

For now, he just enjoyed finally feeling at peace, and having Leslie in his arms once more.

Working for her was going to be stressful, weird, but wonderful and exciting.

She gave him all the opportunities he could hope for. To be a campaign manager and a father. All he could do was work as hard as possible to help her win the campaign.


	11. The Comeback Kid

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been three months since I wrote anything new for this, so I should probably share a new chapter with you all!
> 
> Please don't forget to comment and kudos!

“Alright, phones on silent and away, please. We’ve got a lot to discuss,” Ben said briskly as he strode into the room and took a seat next to Leslie.

“I’m not turning my phone off because I don’t want to,” April said bluntly.

Ben scowled. “Fine, just put it away in your pocket or something.”

He straightened his tie and opened his padfolio, licking the tip of his finger and skimming through the pages. Leslie watched his every movement with fascination.

This wasn’t Ben the Assistant City Manager. This wasn’t Ben the State Auditor. No. This was Ben the Campaign Manager. The suave, sexy, authoritative figure that made Leslie squirm a little in her seat.

These pregnancy hormones were making her so horny she couldn’t wait to get home from planning her relaunch and jump his skinny bones.

“So, we’ve finalised the plans for Leslie’s relaunch campaign,” Ben said, and he turned to Leslie. “Would you like to do the honours?”

“No, I think you should deliver the news,” Leslie said, smiling at him.

“Yeah. But you’re the candidate,” Ben replied.

“Yeah. But you’re the brilliant campaign manager,” Leslie countered.

“But you’re the cutest.”

“I love you,” Leslie sighed, leaning in, and Ben met her with his own ‘I love you.’

Ann cleared her throat. “Hey, you were going to tell us about the relaunch?”

“Oh, right,” Ben said, and Leslie composed herself.

“Ok, so the theme for the campaign relaunch rally will be ‘The Comeback Kid’, everyone loves a good comeback story,” Leslie said excitedly.

“And it’s going to be held tomorrow at the Pawnee Sports Building,” Ben continued. “April, you finalised the rental, right?”

April looked up from her phone. “What?”

Ben sighed. “Right, when I hold campaign meetings, I expect all of you to give 100%, got it? We’re already at a disadvantage given that we hardly have any experience in running a campaign. So, April, I’m going to ask again, have you finalised the rental.”

“Yes, god, you don’t have to get all hormonal on me,” April groaned. “I thought Leslie was the one that was supposed to have the pregnancy hormones.”

“Hey!” Leslie spoke up, looking a little offended.

“Very funny, April,” Ben muttered sarcastically. “Back on track please. Ron, how’s the stage coming along?”

“The wood is all ready, I’ll build it once we get to the sports centre,” Ron said, with a small nod at Ben.

“Good, do you think it’ll be done in time?” Ben asked. “You know I really do think we should’ve hired a contractor.”

“Son, contractors are thieves,” Ron said bluntly.

Ben blinked. “Right. Ok, then. Ann, did you get our special guest to endorse Leslie?”

“Pistol Pete will be meeting with us at 1pm today,” Ann said with a grin.

“I can’t believe you got Pistol Pete,” Leslie said with awe. “He’s a legend.”

Ben just had to smile and agree, but, like the famous Lil Sebastian, he really didn’t get what the big deal was about a previous high school student who won a basketball game. But, hey, it would help with Leslie’s campaign, so he was all for it.

“We’ll all meet at the sports centre at 2:30 and be prompt,” Ben said to the team. “Ron, Tom, Andy and April will come with me to set up, Jerry will be out getting a crowd together. Leslie, you’ll be with Ann waiting for Pistol Pete.”

The group went to get their things, but Leslie looked a little offended. She got up and blocked Ben.

“Wait a second, I don’t get to help set up?” Leslie asked. “This is my campaign, I want to be there for every moment of it. What if something goes wrong? I need to be the first to know.”

“I know, but listen to me,” Ben said, placing his hands on her shoulders. “You’ve been through a lot of stress recently with the trial and your campaign team quitting. I have a plan, and you probably won’t like it, but can you just agree to it, for me? You have three hours until you meet with Pistol Pete. I’ve booked a special spa morning for you and Ann, you’ll got get massages and facials, whatever you want. You need to take some time away from the campaign, and let me worry about setting up. You have to remember you’re stressing out for two now, and this little baby probably isn’t enjoying it right now.”

He moved his hand down onto her belly. “Promise me you’ll have a great morning, then you can go and have the meeting and do the rally, it’ll be great. I’ll text you every twenty minutes with updates, ok?”

Leslie growled a little. “Why are you always right?”

Ben smirked and leaned in, kissing her cheek. “It’ll be great, don’t worry about it.”

~~

“This is torture, he’s torturing me.”

Ann sighed, setting down her mimosa. “He’s not torturing you. This is supposed to be relaxing, and it is, you just need to breathe and enjoy it.”

Leslie scowled, looking around the room. They were both lying in comfortable chairs and dressed in white dressing gowns. There was a fountain close by that was making soothing trickling noises.

Leslie didn’t want soothing trickling noises. She wanted the hustle and bustle of her campaign.

Screw Ben. Didn’t he know that relaxing and spas were terrible to her? She needed something to do, something that was important and meaningful. Not lie around getting massages.

Ok, maybe she could go with a massage, but only for twenty minutes.

“Do you know how long I’ve wanted us to go out and have a spa day?” Ann said, turning to Leslie. “Too long, but I’ve never planned one because I knew you’d rather go out and do something more exciting. But we’re here now, and it’s all being paid for by your boyfriend, so we’re going to enjoy ourselves. This spa is great, I’ve looked it up online and they do great expectant mother deals, so we’re going to sign you up to do most of those, and then in a few hours it’ll all be over and you’ll be back to your campaign.”

She reached out and squeezed Leslie’s hand. “Ben said it best earlier. You need to relax and chill out. You’ve had a tough few weeks, just try to enjoy it.”

Leslie growled under her breath, and Ann rolled her eyes.

“Ok, how about this? We ask the beauticians when they’re doing our pedicures to paint the ‘Knope 2012’ logo on our toenails.”

“Ooh fun! That sounds great,” Leslie said, perking up for the first time all day.

Ann smiled. “See? This is going to be great. We’ll have a great day and let Ben do all the hard work. Then you can go in later and take all the glory.”

Leslie smirked. “I can’t do that, but I will get a great massage and brag about it later when he’s all sore from having to help Ron build a stage.”

She lifted her cucumber water and clinked it against Ann’s cocktail. So far, re-launch day was going pretty well.

~~

Ben wished he could’ve been at the spa with Leslie.

Instead, he was trying to put together a re-launch campaign with a group of people that knew next to nothing about running a campaign. 

Things were going terribly. He’d tried so hard to make everything run as smoothly as possible, but, as he soon found out, he was really not cut out for this.

Especially when he got a phone call saying that Ron, April, Tom and Andy had been pulled over by police for breaking about fifty laws in their truck.

He had to go down and pick all of them up and take them to the sports centre. He also had to deal with a cop, which resulted in a near panic attack. He just kept muttering Leslie’s name over and over again and hoped that they realised that this was all for her campaign. Finally, he let them off with a warning, telling them that they could no longer drive the truck.

They fitted as much wood as they could in Ben’s Saturn and drove off to the sports complex. Ben, who was desperately trying to prevent himself from having a nervous breakdown and screaming at everyone, wiped sweat from his brow and turned his attention to the group.

“Alright, we’re here in one piece, and that’s all that matters,” he said. “Ron, how’s the stage coming?”

“This is the biggest I could make it since we had to jettison the bulk of the wood,” Ron said, gesturing to the pitifully tiny stage with no steps.

Ben looked horrified. “How is she going to get up there?”

“I’ll figure it out,” Ron grunted, turning away from Ben and back to the stage.

Ben rubbed his forehead and turned to April. “I need a status report. How’s it looking out there?”

“Perfect, but just one thing. It’s not a basketball court anymore, it’s an ice skating rink,” April said, standing up.

Ben stared at her, wide eyed. “It’s a what? How? Why?

“The stupid guy didn’t tell me when I called to book the place. Or maybe he did tell me, but he was so stupid and boring I stopped listening,” April whined, pouting at Ben.

Ben glared at her. “So, let me get this straight. Because some guy on the phone told you information that you’ve decided is ‘boring’, Leslie, who may I remind you, is pregnant, now has to try and walk across an ice rink without slipping over.”

“Ben, chillax,” Tom said, jumping to April’s side. “We have a red carpet remember.”

“Finally, some good news,” Ben said, relieved. “Is the carpet durable, will it stop her from slipping?”

“It’s the highest premium carpet I could get with the budget,” Tom said smugly. “Of course, it’ll be fine to walk on. There’s only just one problem. I could only afford half of the carpet that we needed, so from there on, she might sleep.”

Ben pinched the bridge of his nose, exasperated. “Alright, everyone, listen up. This campaign isn’t about me, so right now, I don’t care if you’ve done all this to play some horrible prank on me to make me want to tear of my own skin, but hey, it’s this close to working. You all need to remember that this campaign is for Leslie, a woman who’d gladly fight through fire for any of you. So, right now I don’t care if my choices piss you off, we need to put this right now.”

He squared up to Ron. “Ditch the stage. You have contacts. Go out and find the closest contractor that can put together and deliver a stage in less than an hour, got it?”

Ron grunted, but still left. Ben then turned to Tom.

“Return the carpet, get our money back, and then purchase the cheapest roll of carpet you can, you know the lengths. Stick to it, Tom. I don’t care what the colour is. It can be five different colours sewn together for all I care.”

“Nooo!” Tom cried out, looking horrified. 

“April,” Ben said, turning to the grouchy twenty-two year old. “You need to get up there and do whatever you can to make that ice rink look like a great rally. Go to the printers and get more copies of the posters.”

April scowled at him, but still left. “Fine. I’m doing this for Leslie, not for you.”

“I don’t care,” Ben called back at her.

“Wow, boss. You’re not screwing around,” Andy said, sounding a little impressed.

Ben just went back to his notes. It had been a long time since mean-Ben had made an appearance, but Ben agreed that it was good to see him again.

~~

_‘Your boyfriend is a mean hardass and I don’t like him.’_

Leslie grinned at the text she received. As terrible as it was to say, if April was having a miserable time under Ben’s leadership, then she knew that he was doing a good job.

She lay back into the chair, looking down at her toes. The beautician was doing a great job of re-creating the Knope 2012 logo on her nails.

“I better enjoy this while I can,” Leslie said, placing her hands on her belly. “Soon I won’t be able to see my toes at all.”

“But it’ll be so worth it,” Ann said sweetly. “You’ll have a little baby out of it.”

“I know,” Leslie said happily. “Every now and then I keep forgetting that it’s happening, and then I feel it move and I remember, and I just get this rush of happiness.”

“That’s so sweet,” Ann said. “And I’m so happy for you, really, even if this campaign doesn’t go smoothly. You’re still getting a baby out of it.”

“Oh Ann,” Leslie said, sitting up again. “You beautiful, magical moth. The campaign will go great, because Ben is in charge. I’ve already had April text me that he’s whipping everyone into shape.”

“Really?” Ann said. “Well, good job to Ben.”

Leslie beamed at her best friend, and went back to watching her toenails being painted.

~~

Ben stared anxiously at his watch. Leslie was due to come in any minute now. He’d done all he could to improve on what was given to him an hour ago, but was it enough? 

Ron begrudgingly found a contractor who had conveniently finished building a stage in his workshop, and was willing to transport it to the sports complex in good time. Tom went back to the place where he bought the red carpet, and cried until they gave him a longer roll of green carpet, and April (after her telling off) managed to convince a local printing company to drop everything and give her three fully sized banners in record timing.

It still looked weird, a roll of carpet led towards a plain wooden stage in the middle of a cold ice rink, but it was something. He just hoped that Leslie would be happy with it.

The door opened, and he looked up, eyes wide as Leslie walked in.

“Hey, how is everything? Is it ok in there? Are we ready?” Leslie asked frantically as she made her way towards Ben. 

“First off, things didn’t go exactly to plan,” Ben said immediately, trying to calm her down. “First off, we’re not in a basketball court anymore, we’re in an ice rink. But that’s fine. We have carpet to take you to the stage. It’ll look a little plain, but you have a great speech.”

“So, Pistol Pete won’t be able to dunk?” Leslie asked, looking a little alarmed.

Ben took a deep breath. “No. I’m sorry, I know you worked so hard to get that meeting with him…but unless he wants to fall flat on his ass out there, then it’s not happening.”

“Oh thank God.” Leslie breathed out a sigh of relief. “He’s in Ann’s car talking about his father. We kind of broke him. He refused to dunk and we tried to talk him into it, and Ann got all psychological on him, now he’s a wreck.”

She sighed, looking down at her feet. “Are we in over our head doing this? I mean, we can’t even lock down a legend in Pawnee to endorse me. How will I get an entire town to vote for me?”

“You know what?” Ben said, grasping her shoulders. “We don’t need him. _You_ don’t need him. You’ve got a killer speech, and that’s going to be the thing that gets you back in people’s eyes. Sure the venue is a little weird, and it’s a little rough, but you’ve got this, Leslie. Next time, I want you by my side, making all the decisions and telling me what to do.”

Leslie looked back up and Ben with a smile. “I did really enjoy my spa day though. Maybe we can do something like that together another time?”

Ben wrinkled up his noses. “I don’t know. There’s something about the sound of harps that makes me nervous.”

Leslie giggled and Ben leaned in, kissing her forehead. “Now, Jerry actually managed to bring in a pretty big crowd, are you ready to get out there?”

Leslie took a deep breath. “Yes. I’m ready. Will you be by my side?”

Ben linked his fingers with Leslie’s. “Of course.

~~

“I think that went really well,” Leslie said, after the re-launch had finished. “I mean, I could’ve done without Pistol Pete bursting in, insisting to dunk and breaking his wrist, but still.”

They had gone back home to Leslie’s after her speech. Leslie walked out confidently to the sound of ‘Get On Your Feet’ by Gloria Estefan, and gave her speech. She told them about how she was going to lead a campaign full of excitement, and she could do it pregnant or not. 

As if right on cue, Pistol Pete came out to a loud cheer, he endorsed Leslie and promptly broke his wrist, resulting in a re-launch that would certainly get people talking.

“It did go well. There were almost a hundred people out there, so a hundred people that we can potentially count on votes for,” Ben said. “And there were people from the Pawnee Journal there, so they can report about it.”

He sat down on the coach, thumbing through his notes. Leslie shrugged off her jacket and sat down next to him. “So, my brilliant campaign manager. What’s next for us?”

Ben yawned loudly. “Sleep, preferably. It’s been a long day.”

“You know what I mean,” Leslie said, nudging him. “What’s next on the campaign trail? We’re ready and raring to go. I mean, we could go out now and do late night campaigning. We should do that right?”

“No,” Ben said, holding her down before she could jump up again. “We’re going to sleep. But tomorrow we do have a busy day, so you can look forward to that.”

“Great!” Leslie said excitedly. “What have we got?”

Ben bit his lip. “I think you know what we have to do.”

He tapped a corner on his notepad with his pen, and Leslie groaned.

“Really? Do I have to?”

“Her producers have been calling me non-stop ever since they caught wind that you were still running,” Ben explained. “She’ll most definitely try and trip you up, but you have to do it. She’s unavoidable in this town.”

Leslie let out a long sigh, and looked back at Ben’s notepad. She was happy where she was now, re-launching her campaign and talking to people on the street about her policies. But this, this was surely going cause a lot of people to turn against her again.

Because that’s exactly what Joan Callamezzo liked to do.

~~

Leslie squirmed nervously in her seat as she saw Joan Callamezzo walking towards her, adjusting her microphone on her shirt.

“Hi Joan,” Leslie said, turning to her. “Thank you so much for having me on your show again.”

“You’ve gained weight,” Joan said bluntly.

“Yeah…I’m pregnant,” Leslie said sternly. “It happens.”

“So full of excuses aren’t you,” Joan sniped, before Leslie could respond, Joan had turned away to the camera, her face beaming towards the lens.

“Hello, I’m Joan Callamezzo. Today we have recently disgraced candidate for the City Council run, Leslie Knope on our show.”

Leslie smiled awkwardly at the camera, taken aback by Joan’s harsh words. But she remembered the conversation that she and Ben had before she went on set. She had to remember to be likable and kind but firm and fair. That was what was going to get people to trust her again.

“Leslie, you’ve decided to re-launch your campaign despite your previous team quitting. How do you think you’ll win with a team that has no knowledge on running campaigns?” Joan asked, leaning on her seat to get closer to Leslie.

“Well, Joan, that’s true that we don’t really have experience on running campaigns. But that’s not just what campaigns need to be successful. They need to have heart and passion, and that’s what my team has. I love this town, and I’m going to work hard to earn back the trust from the voters.”

“Ah yes, you lost a lot of trust because of the scandal,” Joan said eagerly, her eyes brimming with glee. “You had an affair with recently disgraced and fired Assistant City Manager, Ben Wyatt. AKA the eighteen-year-old mayor, and are now pregnant with his baby.”

Leslie could see Ben burying his head in his hands from behind the camera. “Yes. Yes that’s all correct. But that really shouldn’t divert people from my important policies that I plan to implement once in office.”

She paused, unable to think of what else to say. What more was there? Everyone knew about the scandal. She wanted to come on this show to talk about her re-launch, not about her personal life.

“Care to comment on anything else about the affair?” Joan prompted. “How can we trust you again when we don’t know who else you’re sleeping with.”

Leslie felt a rage build in her chest. She clenched her fists on top of her lap and looked at Joan with fire in her eyes.

“You know what, Joan?” Leslie said, holding her head up. “I hate that word, _‘affair’_. There’s no real meaning to it in this situation. I was single, Ben was single, and we fell in love. That’s the story. It’s just unfortunate that at the time he was my boss. But if we met at, for example, a grocery store, no one would care. But it’s being blown so far out of proportion. I love Ben with all of my heart, and he loves me. We’re in this together and we plan to run the campaign as a team, and as a family. This baby will be born just after the election, and it’ll learn, win or lose, that it’s parents were in love and helping each other every step of the way. For me, that’s the biggest accomplishment ever. And hopefully I’d love to tell it one day about how I ran for City Council and won. That won’t happen without your votes. So please, forget about the scandal, that’s not important anymore. What’s important are my policies. Education, the environment, they’re all things that I want to work on should I be elected, and I’m the person to get that done.”

She turned back to Joan. “And that’s all I have to say on the matter.”

Joan looked stunned, and quickly called for a commercial break. All Leslie could do was look back at Ben, who couldn’t have looked prouder of her, and smile at him.

~~

“ _Knope sounded like a love-sick child during her interview on ‘Pawnee Today.’ It was embarrassing and not something you’d want to hear from a City Council candidate,_ ” Leslie read aloud from the paper in front of her.

She slammed it down with a groan. “The Pawnee Sun is dragging me through the mud here. I thought my speech on Joan’s show was great.”

“And that’s one opinion,” Ben said, handing her two more papers. “Shauna wrote an article in The Pawnee Journal about how inspiring you were talking about your relationship, and The Pawnee Local said that you were a great role model for women everywhere who want to accomplish their dreams. Even the Indianapolis Sun wrote a small but positive article on it.”

Ben perched on the end of her desk. “You’ll have some backlash, especially from The Pawnee Sun because it’s a tabloid. But everyone else thought you did really well. In fact, you’ve gone up in the polls. Not much, but it’s better than the 1% you were polling at before.”

Leslie tucked a loose curl behind her ear and looked up at Ben. “Are you sure we’re not in over our heads here? We’re able to do this, right?”

“Are you kidding?” Ben said, taking her hand and kissing her knuckle. “Sure it started off a little rocky, but everyone is singing your praises. We’ve got a team that need a little whipping into shape, but I’ve already had people recruiting themselves to be volunteers in your campaign. You’re an inspiration to a lot of people, Leslie. They admire you. Not a lot of people can run for office, let alone doing it pregnant.”

He grabbed his phone, pulling up an article. “Here, listen to this. _While most women see pregnancy as exhausting. Knope proves that if you have the drive, it doesn’t matter, pregnancy doesn’t have to mean putting your life on hold._ ”

Leslie’s eyes were shimmering with happiness. “Really? Someone said that?”

“They did indeed,” Ben said. “I’m so proud of you. It’ll be hard work, but you’ve already gotten this far. And I’m going to be right next to you to help as much as I can.”

Leslie pushed herself up from her desk and wrapped her arms around Ben’s neck. “You’re amazing. Do you know that?”

Ben shrugged a little. “I’ve been told.”

Leslie slapped his shoulder. “Jerk,” she said, and pressed her lips against his.


End file.
